ei: History of the Conflict

A History of Modern Palestine : One Land, Two Peoples
By Ilan Pappe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 3, 2003), 333 pages

Ilan Pappe's book is the story of Palestine, a land inhabited by two peoples, and two national identities. It begins with the Ottomans in the early 1800s, the reign of Muhammad Ali, and traces a path through the arrival of the early Zionists at the end of that century, through the British mandate at the beginning of the twentieth century, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and the subsequent wars and conflicts which culminated in the intifadas of 1987 and 2000.

Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
By David K. Shipler
Publisher: Penguin USA (Revised and updated edition May 2002), 656 pages

The Jew, according to the Arab stereotype, is a brutal, violent coward; the Arab, to the prejudiced Jew, is a primitive creature of animal vengeance and cruel desires. In this monumental work, revised and more relevant than ever, David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices that have been intensified by war, terrorism, nationalism, and the failure of the peace process.

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949
By Benny Morris (Author), Roger Owen (Editor), Edmund Burke (Editor), Michael C. Hudson (Editor), Walid Kazziha (Editor), Rashid Khalidi (Editor), Serif Mardin (Editor)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (Reprint edition February 24, 1989), 404 pages

This book is the first full-length study of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem. Based on recently declassified Israeli, British and American state and party political papers and on hitherto untapped private papers, it traces the stages of the 1947-9 exodus against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli war and analyses the varied causes of the flight. The Jewish and Arab decision-making involved, on national and local levels, military and political, is described and explained, as is the crystallisation of Israel's decision to bar a refugee repatriation.

The Gun and the Olive Branch: The Roots of Violence in the Middle East
By David Hirst
Publisher: Nation Books (Second Ed. March 2003), 627 pages

More than a decade before Israel's New Historians revolutionized the study of Israeli history, English journalist David Hirst wrote The Gun and the Olive Branch, a classic, myth-breaking general history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hirst, former Middle East correspondent of the Guardian, traces the origins of the terrible conflict back to the 1880s to show how Arab violence, although often cruel and fanatical, is a response to the challenge of repeated aggression.

How Israel Was Won: A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
By Baylis Thomas
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield (June 1999), 352 pages.

The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World
By Avi Shlaim
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (January 2001), 704 pages

As it celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, the State of Israel could count many important successes, but its conflict with the Palestinians and the Arab world at large casts a long shadow over its history. What was promulgated as an "iron-wall" strategy--dealing with the Arabs from a position of unassailable strength--was meant to yield to a further stage where Israel would be strong enough to negotiate a satisfactory peace with its neighbors. The goal remains elusive. In this penetrating study, Avi Shlaim examines how variations of the iron-wall philosophy have guided Israel's leaders; he finds that, while the strategy has been successful, opportunities have been lost to progress from military security to broader peace.

One Palestine, Complete : Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate
By Tom Segev
Publisher: Owl Books (October 1, 2001), 624 pages.

Drawing on untapped archival materials, Tom Segev reconstructs an era (1917 to 1948) of limitless possibilities and tragic missteps. He introduces an array unforgettable characters, tracks the steady advance of Jews and Arabs toward confrontation, and puts forth a radical new argument: that the British, far from being pro-Arab, consistently favored the Zionist position, out of the mistaken--and anti-Semitic--belief that Jews turned the wheels of history. Rich in historical detail, sensitive to all perspectives, One Palestine, Complete brilliantly depicts the decline of an empire, the birth of one nation, and the tragedy of another.

Politicide: Ariel Sharon's War Against the Palestinians
By Baruch Kimmerling
Publisher: Verso Books (July 2003), 234 pages

Baruch Kimmerling's new book describes Sharon's quest to reshape the whole geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. He describes how Sharon is committed to politicide, the destruction of the Palestinian political identity, and how he has won the support of powerful elements within Israeli society and the present American administration in order to achieve this. At this time of crisis Kimmerling exposes the brutality of Sharon and his junta's "solutions" and constructs a devastating indictment of a man whose cruelty and ruthlessness have resulted in widespread and indiscriminate slaughter.

Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001
By Benny Morris
Publisher: Vintage (August 28, 2001), 800 pages.

Tracing the roots of political Zionism back to the pogroms of Russia and the Dreyfus Affair, Morris describes the gradual influx of Jewish settlers into Palestine and the impact they had on the Arab population. Following the Holocaust, the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 resulted in the establishment of the State of Israel, but it also shattered Palestinian Arab society and gave rise to a massive refugee problem. Morris offers distinctive accounts of each of the subsequent Israeli-Arab wars and details the sporadic peace efforts in between, culminating in the peace process initiated by the Rabin Government.

Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians & Israel
By John Gee
Publisher: Interlink Pub. Group (January 2002), 146 pages

The year 1998 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel and half a century of devastation for the Palestinian people. Unequal Conflict re-examines Israel's apparent victory against the odds and argues that the odds in fact were always stacked in Israel's favor: Zionism created the conditions in which it was possible to wage and win the bitter struggle with the indigenous Palestinian peoples, and to exploit their inability to offer any effective resistance to the appropriation of their lands and the suppression of their rights.