Key Reading on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Ben-Ami, Shlomo.  Scars of war, wounds of peace: the Israeli-Arab tragedy.  Oxford, 2006.  354p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-518158-1, $30.00.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2006jul CHOICE.
 43-6725  DS119  2005-25383 CIP

 Among the vast number of works published on the intractable Arab/Palestinian/Israeli conflict, a few stand out. In many respects, this book heads the list. Its value lies not only in its historical depth, but also in its detailed portraits of the major players involved. A participant himself in the peace negotiations, Ben-Ami (Toledo Peace Center) provides in-depth analysis of the participants’ strengths and weaknesses as obstacles to settlement. As he points out, the conflict is “not just a collision over territory … it is a clash of rights and memory.” Ben-Ami unsparingly criticizes Israel for its failures to make the concessions needed for a settlement, and equally chastises Palestinian leader Arafat for not going the extra mile to accept Barak’s peace offer at Camp David. The author notes that a new window of opportunity may have opened, and proposes an old but revitalized solution that features an “international envelope” wrapped around both sides under UN guidance–the UN would supervise the Palestinian state and guarantee secure Israeli borders. As Ben-Ami says, “the moment has come for the creative energies of the parties involved to be put, at long last, in the service of a durable peace.” Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — W. Spencer, Flagler College

Carter, Jimmy.  Palestine peace not apartheid.  Simon & Schuster, 2006.  264p index ISBN 0-7432-8502-6, $27.00; ISBN 9780743285025, $27.00. Reviewed in 2007apr CHOICE.
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 Among many activities pursued since his presidency, Jimmy Carter has continued involvement in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. In this account, Carter reviews US attempts to mediate, from his presidency (1977-81) through Palestinian and Israeli elections in 2006. The author describes his meetings and negotiations with political leaders of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel; he became close friends with several. Carter’s account has raised the ire of many Israelis and some strong supporters of Israel in the US, with his charge that “Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land … have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace settlement.” He asserts that the construction of a wall by the Israeli government on Arab land, ostensibly to prevent infiltration of terrorists, along with continued occupation and control of the West Bank and Gaza, is contrary to international law. Carter claims these actions constitute a kind of apartheid. Peace will be attained, he asserts, with a two-state solution, Israel’s withdrawal to 1967 borders, dismantlement of Jewish settlements in occupied territory, a shared Jerusalem, and equitable resolution of the Arab refugee problem. Appendixes include several relevant UN resolutions and other peace proposals. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, lower-division undergraduates through faculty. — D. Peretz, emeritus, SUNY at Binghamton

Dumper, Michael.  The future for Palestinian refugees: toward equity and peace.  L. Rienner, 2007.  233p bibl index afp; ISBN 9781588264749, $55.00. Reviewed in 2008sep CHOICE.
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 Dumper’s work serves as a suitable introduction to the various complexities of the refugee issue in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In prior research Dumper (Middle East politics, Univ. of Exeter) has focused on the contentious issues of the Middle East peace process, such as the old city of Jerusalem and, for the past few years, the issue of Palestinian refugees. This book brings a unique assessment of the Palestinian refugee issue into international perspective, pulling insights from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) guidelines and findings on best practice in the field. At the same time it explores in some detail the official peace negotiations and the various track II initiatives aimed at breaking through the political impasse. The placement of the Palestinian case in comparison with others is uncommon in this field. This distinction makes Dumper’s approach a welcome addition. He deals systematically with each of his themes–including UNHCR practice, refugee settlement, organizational leadership in service provision, reparations, and reconciliation–with a view to resolving these issues in the future. The prose is crisp and readable, if occasionally overly focused on functional and technical detail. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and up. — P. Rowe, Trinity Western University

The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli conflict: a political, social, and military history, ed. by Spencer C. Tucker et al.  ABC-Clio, 2008.  4v bibl index afp; ISBN 9781851098415, $395.00. Reviewed in 2008dec CHOICE.
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 Tucker (formerly, Virginia Military Institute) is also the editor of the five-volume The Encyclopedia of the Cold War (CH, Mar’08, 45-3554) and author of numerous books. Retired Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni wrote the introduction to this new encyclopedia, which covers in varying depth the Arab-Israeli conflict, with special emphasis on military topics. The 750 signed alphabetical entries include cross-references and suggested further readings. Information ranges from a broad historical context to a current affairs perspective; material on cultural, social, and religious issues is peppered throughout. This encyclopedia also includes biographical information on major actors in the conflict. Entries are enhanced by a collection of photographs, illustrations, and maps, along with a few tables with basic economic, military, and other country data. Each volume includes a table of contents, list of entries, list of maps, general index, and categorical index structured according to individuals, events, groups/organizations, places, ideas/movements, technologies, and similar topics. Volume 4, edited by Priscilla Roberts, consists of 150 primary source documents related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The encyclopedia is also available electronically; a free trial is available at http://www.abc-clio.com/products/overview.aspx?productid=110127. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — F. H. Dagher, Columbia University

Falk, Avner.  Fratricide in the Holy Land: a psychoanalytic view of the Arab-Israeli conflict.  Wisconsin, 2005 (c2004).  271p bibl index afp ISBN 0-299-20250-X, $35.00.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2005nov CHOICE.
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 Israeli political psychologist/psychohistorian Falk has written a thoughtful, profound, well-researched book on the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict, marking a major psychohistorical contribution to the vast literature on this subject. Well versed in psychoanalytic theory, Falk goes beyond conventional approaches to the subject. The unconscious manifestation and irrational behavior of Israelis and Arabs take center stage and are insightfully integrated in this text. In classical scholarly form, Falk provides a well-delineated introductory “roadmap” of his topics, which include a review of the scholarly literature, the issue of nationalism, the psychobiography of Ariel Sharon and Yassir Arafat, the “psychogeography” of Israel, and surveys of the “Arab mind” and “Israeli mind.” Falk also has timely chapters on Arab suicidal terrorists and the psychology of Arab suicide bombers. It is difficult to do justice to this work in a brief review. Thirty years ago in a review of Jay Y. Gonen’s A Psychohistory of Zionism (CH, Oct’75), psychohistorian Peter Loewenberg wrote a challenging conclusion that still has bearing: “We now await an equivalent book from the Arab perspective.” Summing Up: Highly recommended. Public and university libraries, and readers of all levels. — J. Szaluta, emeritus, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Gelvin, James L.  The Israel-Palestine conflict: one hundred years of war.  Cambridge, 2005.  294p bibl index ISBN 0-521-85289-7, $65.00; ISBN 0521618045 pbk, $22.99.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2006jun CHOICE.
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 Gelvin (UCLA; Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire, CH, May’99, 36-5243; The Modern Middle East: A History, 2005) has crafted a critical, objective, and sophisticated analysis of the century-long conflict over Palestine. He judiciously challenges the superficial but widespread mythologies of both Israelis and Zionists, and Palestinians and Arabs. He argues that the struggle is essentially “a dispute over real estate” “by two nationalist movements.” This is not a text for true believers of any perspective, but is “for students and general readers who wish to understand the broad sweep of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and to situate it in its global context.” This Gelvin does admirably well. This is a superior work for all libraries, and especially for serious readers and undergraduate college classes. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All general, public, and undergraduate collections. — B. Harris Jr., Occidental College

Harms, Gregory.  The Palestine-Israel conflict: a basic introduction, by Gregory Harms with Todd M. Ferry.  Pluto, 2005.  230p bibl index ISBN 0745323782 pbk, $19.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2006mar CHOICE.
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 Freelance writer and researcher Harms rightfully asks, “where is someone to go and get a basic understanding of the most notorious conflict of the twentieth century?” His brief but carefully written analysis, which offers clear definitions and deft explanations, significant but not lengthy details, and appropriate annotated suggestions for further reading, offers just that. Harms begins with the background history of the region, showing that Palestinians and Israelis share similar Canaanite origins; he then outlines the development of the peoples themselves through the Jewish Diaspora, the Islamic caliphates, and the emergence of nationalisms to WW II. He concludes with the controversial evolution of the conflict itself to the present time. The author cautiously notes, however, that the background survey merely introduces Arabs/Palestinians and Jews/Israelis, but that the actual conflict over the land is a recent national struggle, not a historical process. This superior and remarkably thorough, if brief, study of the Holy Land enigma is strongly recommended as an introduction, which might be followed by Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (CH, Sep’88, 26-0479; 5th ed., 2004), and Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., A Concise History of the Middle East (CH, Dec’79; 8th ed., 2006), both in several updated editions. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General and undergraduate collections. — B. Harris Jr., Occidental College

The Israel-Arab reader: a documentary history of the Middle East conflict, ed. by Walter Laqueur and Barry Rubin.  7th rev. and updated ed.  Penguin, 2008.  626p ISBN 9780143113799 pbk, $18.00. Reviewed in 2008sep CHOICE.
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 This volume is the seventh edition of documents, speeches, statements, etc., collected by two veteran Middle East scholars and first published in 1969. It includes over 180 items, from an 1882 statement by the BILU, an early Zionist group, to President George W. Bush’s speech at the Annapolis Middle East conference in November 2007. The focus is on items relating to the conflict between Arab nationalism and initially Zionism, then Israel. Included are the diverse proposals to deal with the Arab-Israel conflict prior to establishment of the Jewish state. The editors include comments and proposals by US presidents for resolving the conflict and those of Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders, including a record of the conversation in 1941 between Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini, the most prominent Palestinian Arab leader prior to WW II. Significant omissions are any reference to proposals for a binationalist resolution of the conflict, like those made by Hashomer Hatzair, a leading pre-Israel Zionist party, Martin Buber, and the 2003 Geneva Accord signed by prominent Palestinian Arabs and Israelis. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — D. Peretz, emeritus, SUNY at Binghamton

Kershner, Isabel.  Barrier: the seam of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict .  Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.  232p index ISBN 1-4039-6801-2, $24.95. Reviewed in 2006jun CHOICE.
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 It is difficult to write anything objective about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in which even the facts are in dispute. The difficulty is compounded when discussing the Israeli government’s new security barrier. As Kershner, a writer for The Jerusalem Report, notes, Palestinians call it a “wall” while Israelis call it a “fence.” The author seeks journalistic objectivity, so she chooses the neutral term “barrier” for the title. Kershner documents the situation on the ground by telling stories from both sides of the barrier. In the most compelling section of the book, she compares a kibbutz on the Israeli side with a Palestinian village on the other side. She tells the Israeli side of the story quite well, but also interviews a number of Palestinians affected by the barrier, including a resident of Gaza whose lack of freedom is depressing. Kershner ends on a hopeful note, wishing for peace between the two peoples. The book is readable and has excellent maps that make it a helpful reference source. These stories contribute greatly to an understanding of the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, lower-division undergraduates and above. — S. Waalkes, Malone College

Mearsheimer, John J.  The Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy, by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt.  Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007.  484p bibl index afp ISBN 0-374-17772-4, $26.00; ISBN 9780374177720, $26.00.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2008feb CHOICE.
45-3456  E183  2007-24183 CIP 

 This book is an expanded version of one of the most controversial articles ever published on American foreign policy. As in the original article in the London Review of Books and the longer version posted on a Harvard University Web site, Mearsheimer (Univ. of Chicago) and Walt (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard) argue that the Israel lobby has been overwhelmingly effective in winning political support in the US for large levels of foreign and military assistance and for policy decisions in the Middle East that are favorable to recent Israeli governments. Israel is the largest recipient of US aid and a nation widely supported by American politicians in both political parties. The controversy comes from the authors’ claims that many of Israel’s current policies, particularly those involving the Occupied Territories, are at odds with America’s national interests and core values. Like Jimmy Carter’s recent book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (CH, Apr’07, 44-4686), Mearsheimer and Walt’s arguments are generating wide discussion and passionate responses. Because of its reception, and because of the importance of the issues it raises, this is an essential volume in any collection that covers public affairs and US foreign policy. Summing Up: Essential. All levels. — R. A. Strong, Washington & Lee University

Meital, Yoram.  Peace in tatters: Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East.  L. Rienner, 2006.  253p bibl index afp ISBN 1-58826-362-2, $52.00; ISBN 1588263878 pbk, $22.00. Reviewed in 2006may CHOICE.
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 From 1992 to 1999, there was some modest optimism that the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might be close at hand. Then the peace talks broke down, and the results of that failure continue to haunt all sides. Meital (Ben-Gurion Univ., Israel) has written much about this conflict over many years, in both English and Hebrew. In the current study he examines the breakdown of the peace process from 2000 to 2004, and provides a useful evaluation of the failed peace process in 12 succinctly written chapters. The author tries to examine each side’s position and the overall culture of distrust. The peace process that began in Oslo during the early 1990s was never guaranteed success. Elements on both sides were determined to ensure its failure. Even mainstream and sincere negotiators found it difficult to go beyond certain areas. Palestinians did not acknowledge Judaism’s connection to the Temple Mount while Israelis were unable to agree among themselves or with the Palestinians what neighborhoods constituted Jerusalem. The author also analyzes the US policy in the Middle East, in the context of the failure to fulfill the role of honest broker. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — M. Slann, Macon State College 

Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory, ed. by Ahmad H. Sa’di and Lila Abu-Lughod.  Columbia, 2007.  356p bibl index afp ISBN 0-231-13578-5, $72.50; ISBN 0231135793 pbk, $27.50; ISBN 9780231135788, $72.50; ISBN 9780231135795 pbk, $27.50. Reviewed in 2008feb CHOICE.
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 This moving collection of writings on the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homeland in 1948, an event termed al-nakba (the catastrophe) in Arabic, is part of the “Cultures of History” series. Editors Sa’di (political science, Ben-Gurion Univ. of the Negev) and Abu-Lughod (anthropology, Columbia Univ.) provide an informative introduction and discuss ways to approach the complicated issues of trauma, recollection, and national identity. They organize the chapters in three parts: places, modes, and fault lines of memory. Sa’di offers a reflective afterword. The volume focuses on the meanings, for the land’s dispossessed people, of the establishment of the state of Israel. The chapters deal poignantly with personal experiences and life stories. Abu-Lughod includes an account of the return of her father, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, a prominent Palestinian scholar and activist, to Palestine. She offers a tribute by describing the rites of mourning after his death in 2001. The volume contains helpful illustrations, including maps and photographs. A combined bibliography is located at the end of the text. For a wide audience, including specialists of the Middle East. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — L. Beck, Washington University in Saint Louis

Salinas, Moises F.  Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Praeger, 2007.  166p index afp ISBN 0-275-99005-2, $49.95; ISBN 9780275990053, $49.95. Reviewed in 2007dec CHOICE.
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 This well-written, well-organized book looks beyond the political barriers to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Salinas (psychology, Central Connecticut State Univ.) argues that to truly understand and overcome “the obstacles leading to a possible permanent solution” one must take into account “the social and psychological factors that are central to the conflict and its resolution: (1) stereotypes and prejudices, (2) extremism, (3) trauma, and (4) reconciliation.” After a brief historical introduction, he devotes a chapter to each of these factors. Every chapter begins with a traditional discussion of the main topic, followed by two interviews, one with an Israeli, the other with a Palestinian. Selected from a larger group of interviews carried out with the help of 250 Palestinian and Israeli students, these are intended to be typical and “good examples of what average people think and feel in each of the different areas.” In most, the interviewer was of the same culture as the interviewee, and their native language was used. The students also helped with the translations. The book concludes with an epilogue and an appendix, “The Geneva Accord: A Model Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement.” Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. — C. Barner-Barry, emerita, University of Maryland Baltimore County
 

Sher, Gilead.  The Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, 1999-2001: within reach.  Routledge, 2006.  278p bibl index ISBN 0714685429 pbk, $34.95. Reviewed in 2007feb CHOICE.
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 There have been many books written on the Arab-Israeli conflict; very few have covered the personal account of those directly involved in the peace negotiations. Sher, a lawyer and co-chief negotiator for the Israeli government at the 2001 Camp David talks, provides deep, concise, and personal analysis of the conflict, the players involved, and the issues vital to all sides. According to the author, the two sides were near closing a deal for the first time in the history of the conflict. Sher explains the positions of each side, the gaps that remained, and most importantly, the reasons for the breakdown of the talks. He continues to hope that one day the two sides will restart peace negotiations and reach an agreement, especially when both sides have no other viable option but to end the occupation and make peace. He accurately argues that “occupation cannot last. No matter how justified it may have been in the outset, at the end of the day, occupation will eat away at the occupier itself.” Although many obstacles to peace remain in a deeply troubled region, one must not despair, especially when a practical solution exists seemingly within reach. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — K. M. Zaarour, Shaw University

Shindler, Colin. A history of modern Israel.  Cambridge, 2008. 371p bibl index ISBN 9780521850285, $80.00; ISBN 9780521615389 pbk, $23.99.  Reviewed in 2009feb CHOICE.
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This timely book, which appears as the Jewish state celebrates its 60th anniversary, is an informative account of the history of Israel.  Shindler (Israeli and Jewish studies, Univ. of London) states that his intention in writing this history is to explain the raison d’etre for a Jewish state and to elucidate Israel’s history through the prism of its leadership’s ideological debates and internal polemics.  The book makes clear that the divisions between Arabs (Palestinians) and Jews that existed 60 years ago continue to prevent peace today.  For example, Shindler notes that in 1948, Moshe Sharett, Israel’s first foreign minister, explained to UN mediators that the three main causes of the conflict were the Arabs’ view of Israel as a foreign body in the Middle East; the challenge the rise of a Jewish state presented to the hegemony of Sunni Islam and the encouragement it gave to Shi’ites, Kurds, and other religious and ethnic minorities to assert their independence; and the fear that a progressive, democratic state would bring about change in neighboring countries where conservative elites ruled.  These attitudes, it would seem, remain at the core of the present day conflict.  Glossary and chronology.  Summing Up: Recommended.  All levels/libraries. — J. Fischel, emeritus,  Messiah College

Tamimi, Azzam.  Hamas: a history from within.  Olive Branch, 2007.  372p index; ISBN 9781566566896 pbk, $20.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
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 Overall, this book aims to dispel negative Western perceptions of Hamas. Tamimi (director, Institute of Islamic Political Thought, London, UK) presents an authoritative assessment of the origins, rise, and impact of Hamas. Indeed, the study provides the non-Arabic reader with a wealth of information in English not previously available. The author describes the intifada (resurgence) in 1987 and the circumstances that led to the birth of Hamas, and analyzes major events that affected Hamas from its birth in 1988 to the Oslo Agreement in 1993. The author examines how the Hamas leadership transferred to Jordan in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Focus shifts to the unsuccessful Israeli attempt to assassinate the leader of Hamas, and events that led to the complete removal of Hamas from Jordan. There is also a discussion of Hamas’s position vis-à-vis Israel, and the debate on the issue of martyrdom within contemporary Islamic political thought. The attitude of the Fatah movement toward its rival Hamas is examined as well as the aftermath of Arafat’s death in 2004 and developments that led to the sweeping Hamas victory in the legislative elections in 2006. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above. — S. Ayubi, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden

Yiftachel, Oren.  Ethnocracy: land and identity politics in Israel/Palestine.  Pennsylvania, 2006.  350p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8122-3927-X, $69.95; ISBN 9780812239270, $69.95. Reviewed in 2007jan CHOICE.
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 The complex Middle East situation begs for an objective examination that clearly analyzes the numerous events that have occurred over time without further inflaming conditions and that both sides can accept. This book goes a long way to providing an understanding and possible solution to what appears to be an impossible situation. Recognizing that there are sides with intractable policies, Yiftachel (geography and urban studies, Ben-Gurion Univ.) examines various historical events and geographic changes that contributed to the current volatile environment between the Israelis and Palestinians. He provides an important discussion of stratified social positions within Israeli and Palestinian societies that brings to the forefront the internal hierarchy within each group. The author’s recognition of these issues further provides a greater insight to the region’s difficulties, and he offers positive suggestions that can improve the chances for a more just balance of power and conditions to de-escalate the tensions that cause all sides to suffer in uncountable ways. The bibliographic material is an invaluable resource for further investigation. A major contribution to the intellectual treatise of a complex topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above, and specialists. — L. Yacher, Southern Connecticut State University

Editor’s Note: Forthcoming reviews in the March’09 issue:

Morris, Benny.  1948: a history of the first Arab-Israeli war . Yale, 2008. 524p bibl index afp ISBN 9780300126969, $32.50 

Nashif, Esmail.  Palestinian political prisoners: identity and community. Routledge, 2008. 232P bibl index ISBN 9780415444989, $150.00

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