The History Book Club discussion
MIDDLE EAST
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STATE OF PALESTINE
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by Walter LaqueurSynopsis:
The Israel-Arab Reader is a thorough and up-to-date guide to the continuing crisis in the Middle East.
It covers the full spectrum of the Israel-Arab conflict-from the earliest days, through the wars and peacemaking efforts, up to the Israel-PLO and Israel-Jordan peace accords.
This comprehensive reference includes speeches, letters, articles, and reports dealing with all the major interests in the area from all of the relevant political parties and world leaders.
Completely updated, consolidated, and revised throughout, The Israel-Arab Reader contains new sections on the Wye River agreement, and other recent developments, making it the essential resource on the ongoing conflict.
Historians and Middle East specialists Walter Laqueur and Barry Rubin have arranged the material chronologically and without bias.
All viewpoints-American, Arab, British, Egyptian, Israeli, Palestinian, and Russian-are accurately presented
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by Robin Wright (no photo)Synopsis:
A magnificent reckoning with the extraordinary changes engulfing the Middle East, by one of our greatest reporters on the region
Robin Wright first landed in the Middle East on October 6, 1973, the day the fourth Middle East war erupted. She has covered every country and most major crises in the region since then, through to the rise of Al-Qaeda and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
For all the drama of the past, however, the region's most decisive traumas are unfolding today as the Middle East struggles to deal with trends that have already reshaped the rest of the world. And for all the darkness, there is also hope.
Some of the emerging trends give cause for greater optimism about the future of the Middle East than at any time since the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948.
Dreams and Shadows is an extraordinary tour d'horizon of the new Middle East, with on-the-ground reportage of the ideas and movements driving change across the region-and the obstacles they confront.
Through the powerful storytelling for which the author is famous, Dreams and Shadows ties together the players and events in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, the Gulf states, and the Palestinian territories into a coherent vision of what lies ahead.
A marvelous field report from the center of the storm, the book is animated by the characters whose stories give the region's transformation its human immediacy and urgency. It is also rich with the history that brought us to this point. It is a masterpiece of the reporter's art and a work of profound and enduring insight.
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Freya StarkSynopsis:
Once described as "a traveler of genius" Dame Freya Stark's vivid account of journeys in Persia, Arabia and the Near East opened up new vistas for a wide readership. Long before it was fashionable to be a solo traveler, much less a woman alone, she roamed the world.
EAST IS WEST is the story of her war-time experiences in Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Stark tells her story with the freedom and independence of an intrepid traveler and with the authority of an official of the British Diplomatic Corps.
"That she so triumphantly holds our attention and makes us long for more is due to her sensibilty, her courage, her honesty, and above all, to her gift that must leave all other travel writers desperate with envy." (The Listener)
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by Charles GlassSynopsis:
Charles Glass, an award-winning commentator on the Middle East, resumes a journey through the Levant that was violently interrupted on 1987 when he was kidnapped by Shiite gunmen. The voyage, from Aqaba on the Red Sea to Alexandretta in southern Turkey, begins again in September 2001, haunted by the 9/11 attacks on America and the ensuing invasion of Iraq.
Along the route, Glass visits the Israeli settlements and Arab towns on whose land the settlements were constructed, speaks to Israeli conscripts and Palestinian demonstrators, to priests, rabbis and mullahs, politicians and assassins, the tortured and their torturers. He also revisits the scene of his captivity, confronting the men who kidnapped him over two decades ago.
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by Alexander William KinglakeOne of Winston Churchill's favorites
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A solitary Western traveler in the Middle East in 1834, this is an extraordinary work of travel writing that is more about the author's internal journey than it is about monuments and museums, one that replicates the personal experience of travel and how it changes who we are. Kinglake's intimate, conversational style and his sense of humor and irony lend Eothen-the title means "from the early dawn" or "from the East"-an air that still feels as fresh and original in the 21st century as it must have when it was first published in 1844.
This delightful travelogue of a young Englishman's journey through the middle east, in 1835 has become a permanent classic. The authors personal observations of the characters he encounters, including Pashas, interpreters, camel merchants, slave-traders, magicians, Bedouins, governors, soldiers, Jews, monks, pilgrims, and even a famous expatriate stateswoman turned astrologist, are all amusing and give great insight into the Arab character.
Kinglake braved the plague, and numerous other ills in order to undertake these travels when transportation in the area was still quite difficult and dangerous, so many of his adventures are hair-raising as well as humorous.
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Susan AbulhawaSynopsis:
A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan.
Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejas are moved into the Jenin refugee camp.
There, exiled from his beloved olive groves, the family patriarch languishes of a broken heart, his eldest son fathers a family and falls victim to an Israeli bullet, and his grandchildren struggle against tragedy toward freedom, peace, and home. This is the Palestinian story, told as never before, through four generations of a single family.
The very precariousness of existence in the camps quickens life itself. Amal, the patriarch's bright granddaughter, feels this with certainty when she discovers the joys of young friendship and first love and especially when she loses her adored father, who read to her daily as a young girl in the quiet of the early dawn.
Through Amal we get the stories of her twin brothers, one who is kidnapped by an Israeli soldier and raised Jewish; the other who sacrifices everything for the Palestinian cause.
Amal’s own dramatic story threads between the major Palestinian-Israeli clashes of three decades; it is one of love and loss, of childhood, marriage, and parenthood, and finally of the need to share her history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has.
Previously published in a hardcover edition with a limited run under the title The Scar of David, this powerful novel is now available in a fully revised, newly titled paperback edition.
The deep and moving humanity of Mornings in Jenin forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining political conflicts of our lifetimes.
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Ghada KarmiSynopsis:
An intimate and powerful narrative in which the Israel-Palestine conflict is presented, unusually, from the Palestinian side, In Search of Fatima reflects the author's personal experiences of displacement, loss and nostalgia against a backdrop of the major political events which have shaped Middle East conflict.
In Search of Fatima is a powerful biographical story, but it is also a book which transcends its author's own experience. It speaks for the millions of people all over the world who have lived suspended between their old and new countries, fitting into neither.
An account not of the physical hardship and abuse suffered by many refugees, but rather an exploration of the subtler privations of psychological displacement and loss of identity
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Noam ChomskySynopsis:
Contents
Foreword by Edward W. Said
Preface to the Updated Edition
1. Fanning the Flames
2. The Origins of the "Special Relationship"
3. Rejectionism and Accommodation
4. Isreal and Palestine: Historical Backgrounds
5. Peace for Galilee
6. Aftermath
7. The Road to Armageddon
8. The Palestinian Uprising
9. "Limited War" in Lebanon
10. Washington's "Peace Process"
Index
An Excerpt from Fateful Triangle, Updated Edition
For some time, I've been compelled to arrange speaking engagements long in advance. Sometimes a title is requested for a talk scheduled several years ahead. There is, I've found, one title that always works: "The current crisis in the Middle East." One can't predict exactly what the crisis will be far down the road, but that there will be one is a fairly safe prediction.
That will continue to be the case as long as basic problems of the region are not addressed.
Furthermore, the crises will be serious in what President Eisenhower called "the most strategically important area in the world." In the early post-War years, the United States in effect extended the Monroe Doctrine to the Middle East, barring any interference apart from Britain, assumed to be a loyal dependency and quickly punished when it occasionally got out of hand (as in 1956). The strategic importance of the region lies primarily in its immense petroleum reserves and the global power accorded by control over them; and, crucially, from the huge profits that flow to the Anglo-American rulers, which have been of critical importance for their economies. It has been necessary to ensure that this enormous wealth flowsprimarily to the West, not to the people of the region. That is one fundamental problem that will continue to cause unrest and disorder. Another is the Israel-Arab conflict with its many ramifications, which have been closely related to the major U.S. strategic goal of dominating the region's resources and wealth.
Anarchists Against the Wall: Direct Action and Solidarity with the Palestinian Popular Struggle
by Uri GordonSynopsis
Part of a small but growing phenomenon in Israel since 2003, Anarchists Against the Wall have been boldly challenging the Segregation Barrier and generalized violence against occupied Palestine. The reflections herein offer a window into some of the most dynamic direct action activism today.
This may be considered a controversial book on the inner workings of the Palestine stalemate.The Politics of Change in Palestine
by Michael BröningSynopsis
This book contradicts the dominant myth that incompetent, corrupt, and uncompromising Palestinian decision-makers are responsible for the lasting stalemate in the Middle-East Peace Process. It highlights recent political developments in Palestine that fundamentally redefine important parameters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Contrary to public perception, new political trends in the Palestinian Territories bolster prospects for the realization of Palestinian national aspirations. Michael Bröning identifies key indicators which fundamentally question dominant Israeli narratives and pose an unprecedented strategic challenge to the Israeli leadership. These include the re-invention of Hamas, the reform of the Fatah movement, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s state-building efforts and the surge of non-violent resistance against Israel. This persuasive book forces us to reconsider the perceived wisdom that the Palestinians are powerless to influence events as they struggle for peace.
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Bentley, thank you for the suggestion of Mornings in Jenin. Just finished, and I thought it a great read. It is a novel from the perspective of Palestine. With the US being an ally of Israel, I have only heard one side of the story. This book shows the abuses of both sides, and humanizes the Palestinian plight of how terrorists are made from good people.
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Susan Abulhawa
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This book sounds intriguing to me now also.The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
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Ilan PappéSynopsis:
The renowned Israeli historian revisits the formative period of the State of Israel. Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred, and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called "ethnic cleansing".
Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the Middle East.
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Libby you are out-reading all of us. It is so fun to read your comments in this challenge.
I have two books on Arafat, but I don't know which one to read. Does anyone have a recommendation?
The other one is
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by Andrew Gowers (no photo)The above had some good ratings.
by Janet Wallach (no photo)The above from synopses is more a history of the Middle East versus a biography of Arafat.
Not sure what to think of Karsh's book. Interessting sure, but after I have read his and his wife's book "Empires of the sand" I can imagine it is rather biasd again.
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Efraim Karsh (no photo)
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Very good book. Interviews with all high ranking PLO members aswell as American politicians and diplomats and Israeli Generals. It gives a very good insight into the PLO structures and precise information on the Lebanese civil war.
Andrew Gowers
Tony Walker
A history of Israeli- Palestinian conflict by Mark Tessler.Though I am an amateur reader and I have seen lot of documentaries and movies involving the palestinian conflict, this was the first book I read regarding it. The book is very thorough and articulate. Deals with minutest of facts.
A must read.
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by Andrew Gowers (no photo)See the above: book cover (it is available) then type in the word by after the book cover - leaving one space after the book cover html and then after the word by - one space before the author's photo (but there is none in this instance so then you add the author's link.
Now I am not sure why you added the author's link for Gowers by itself. Since there is not author's photo- you would add (no photo) afterwards.
If you are just mentioning an author, then add the author's photo first and then the author's link - or the author's link and (no photo)
Andrew Gowers (no photo)
Here is Tony Walker's:
Tony Walker (no photo)
You might check out the Mechanics of the Board thread to get some extra help Desiree.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
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Though I am an amateur reader and I have seen lot of documentaries and movies involving the palestinian conflict, this was the first boo..."
Thank you Pulkit - we do have rules for citations and here is how your citation should look:
by Mark A. Tessler (no photo)Read the post that I left for Desiree above this one and that gives you some additional pointers and a link to the Mechanics of the Board thread.
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Release date: September 1, 2014
Gaza: A History
by Jean-Pierre Filiu (no photo)Synopsis:
Gaza has become synonymous with conflict and dispute. Though only slightly larger than Omaha, Nebraska at 140 square miles, the small territory of Gaza has been a hot spot for bitter disputes between sparring powers for millennia, from the Ancient Egyptians up until the British Empire and even today.
Wedged between the Negev and Sinai deserts on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other, Gaza was contested by the Pharaohs, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Fatimids, Mamluks, Crusaders, and Ottomans. Then in 1948, 200,000 people sought refuge in Gaza-a marginal area neither Israel nor Egypt wanted. It is here that Palestinian nationalism grew and sprouted into a dream of statehood, a journey much filled with strife.
Though small in size, Gaza's history is nothing short of monumental. Jean-Pierre Filiu's Gaza is the first complete history of the territory in any language. Beginning with the Hyksos in 18th century BC, Filiu takes readers through modern times and the ongoing disputes of the region, ending with what may be in store for the future.
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(last edited Nov 24, 2018 12:13PM)
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Barbara W. TuchmanSynopsis:
Historically, the British were drawn to the Holy Land for two major reasons: first, to translate the Bible into English and, later, to control the road to India and access to the oil of the Middle East. With the lucidity and vividness that characterize all her work, Barbara W. Tuchman follows these twin spiritual and imperial motives—the Bible and the sword—to their seemingly inevitable endpoint, when Britain conquered Palestine at the conclusion of World War I. At that moment, in a gesture of significance and solemnity, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 established a British-sponsored mandate for a national home for the Jewish people. Throughout this characteristically vivid account, Tuchman demonstrates that the seeds of conflict were planted in the Middle East long before the official founding of the modern state of Israel.
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Release date: August 15, 2018
Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History
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Nur MasalhaSynopsis:
For centuries, the land of Palestine has been fought over by competing faiths, nations and empires. Today, even the name itself has become a battleground for conflicting Israeli and Palestinian visions of the country's past. Israelis treat the very notion of 'Palestine' as a modern invention, while rooting their own nation's history in the ancient Kingdom of Israel. But, as Nur Masalha shows, the concept of Palestine (derived from the biblical 'Philistine') is one which can be traced to the beginning of recorded history, grounded in a distinctive Palestinian culture that long predates the Old Testament narrative of Israelite conquest.
Beginning with the earliest references to the area in ancient texts, Masalha explores how the concept of Palestine and its associated identity has evolved over thousands of years, from the Bronze Age to the present day. Drawing on a rich body of sources and the latest archaeological evidence, Masalha shows how Palestine's past has been distorted and mythologised by Biblical lore and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the process, this magisterial work uncovers the true depth and complexity of Palestine's millennia-old heritage, and represents the authoritative account of the country's history.
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by Ian Black (no photo)Synopsis:
In Enemies and Neighbors, Ian Black, who has spent over three decades covering events in the Middle East and is currently a fellow at the London School of Economics, offers a major new history of the Arab-Zionist conflict from 1917 to today, published on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
Laying the historical groundwork in the final decades of the Ottoman era, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in the Holy Land, Black draws on a wide range of sources--from declassified documents to oral histories to his own vivid on-the-ground reporting--to recreate the major milestones in the most polarizing conflict of the modern age, and from both sides.
In the third year of World War I, the seed was planted for an inevitable clash: Jerusalem governor Izzat Pasha surrendered to British troops and foreign secretary Lord Balfour issued a fateful document promising the establishment of "a national home for the Jewish people."
The chronicle takes us through the Arab rebellion of the 1930s; the long shadow of the Nazi Holocaust; the war of 1948--culminating in Israel's independence and the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe); the "cursed victory" of the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Palestinian re-awakening; the first and second Intifadas; the Oslo Accords; and other failed peace negotiations and continued violence up to 2017.
Combining engaging narrative with historical and political analysis and cultural insights, Enemies and Neighbors is both an accessible overview and a fascinating investigation into the deeper truths of a history that continues to dominate Middle Eastern politics and diplomacy, and which has preserved Palestinians and Israelis as unequal enemies and neighbors, their bitter conflict unresolved as prospects for a two-state solution have all but disappeared.
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Release date: December 19, 2024
Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict
by Yardena Schwartz (no photo)Synopsis:
In 1929, in the sacred city of Hebron―then governed by the British Mandate of Palestine―there was no occupation, state of Israel, or settlers. Jews and Muslims lived peacefully near the burial place of Abraham, patriarch of the Jewish and Arab nations, until one Saturday morning when nearly 70 Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered by their Arab neighbors. The Hebron massacre was a seminal event in the Arab-Israeli conflict, key to understanding its complexities. The echoes of 1929 in Hamas’s massacre of October 7, 2023, illustrate how little has changed―and how much of our perspective must change if peace is ever to come to this tortured land and its people, who are destined to share it.
Noted journalist Yardena Schwartz draws on her extensive research and wide-ranging interviews with both sides to tell a timely, eye-opening story. She expertly weaves the war between Israel and Hamas into a historical framework, demonstrating how the conflict today cannot be understood without the context of ground zero of this century-old war, which began long before the occupation, the settlements, or the state of Israel ever existed.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict (other topics)Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 (other topics)
Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History (other topics)
Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour (other topics)
Gaza: A History (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Yardena Schwartz (other topics)Ian Black (other topics)
Nur Masalha (other topics)
Barbara W. Tuchman (other topics)
Jean-Pierre Filiu (other topics)
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Since we are doing the Middle Eastern challenge; setting up one thread per Middle Eastern country is a good idea.