Book Description
James L. Gelvin's new account of the century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians presents a compelling, accessible and up-to-the-moment introduction for students and general readers. Placing events in the disputed area within the framework of global history, the book skillfully interweaves biographical sketches, eyewitness accounts, poetry, fiction and official documentation into its narrative, including photographs, maps and an abundance of supplementary material as well. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century in Palestine, it traces the evolution and interactions of the two communities from their first encounters up to the present conflict.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding analysis of the roots of the Israel-Palestine question.......2006-01-14
Like Gelvin's other general readership work, The Modern Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2005), this is more an analytical essay than traditional textbook. In a field of study that is almost impossibly broad, this work aims to center on central themes and problems rather than a step-by-step narrative of events. More than anything else, reading this work is like sitting down with a very smart, very knowledgeable person for many cups of coffee: you learn a lot, but a lot gets breezed by as well. And the time passes quickly.
This emphasis on the "big picture" is both the book's greatest strength and its most significant weakness. Although aimed at undergraduates and a general audience, without recourse to other works, the reader may not feel that they have a sufficient grasp of chronology or of major actors. For this reason, readers may well find a basic textbook like those by Charles Smith or Mark Tessler to be of value. At the same time, what this work offers - far more than any other work that I know of - is an understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict as rooted in the very modern problem of nationalism. In a field that often gets caught up in the details or polemics, this broad approach is both engaging and intellectually provocative, offering the reader a means of seeing the Arab-Israeli conflict in a broader context than is generally offered.
Gelvin's breezy style is, at times, too dismissive and, while he argues that both Zionism and Palestinian nationalism are both modern constructions, his fundamental sympathy for the Palestinian cause is clear. This "imbalance" will, no doubt, engage some readers and annoy others. Regardless of political inclinations, however, there are few readers, either novice or specialist, who would not benefit from a careful reading of this engaging and important survey.
A Historian's Historian; A Reader's Writer.......2005-12-17
As an amateur historian, I appreciate it when I read a book that takes an over-exposed subject and makes it fresh. Gelvin is a superb historian and writer as well as a polymath who is entirely comfortable writing about politics, literature, international exhibitions, poetry, and world history. He uses a short story by the Jewish-Austrian writer Joseph Roth to investigate how and why European Jews turned to nationalism, archaeological evidence to describe how nationalisms like Zionism remake national histories, Palestinian poetry to elaborate the experience of exile, and biographical sketches (Theodor Herzl, Ariel Sharon, Yasir Arafat, Mahmoud Darwish) to make history come alive. His writing is fluent, witty, and never pedantic. I almost felt guilty reading a book this enjoyable about such a bloody and endless conflict.
BRILLIANT and ENGAGING.......2005-09-08
I've read many books on the Israel/Palestine conflict (Smith, Tessler, Bickerton/Klausner, etc.) but this one is by FAR the best. First, it's actually fun to read. Gelvin writes as if he is there in the room having a conversation. The book is peppered with jokes and wry observations, and although Gelvin obviously knows his way around the academic world, there is none of the usual academic jargon. Second, most historians present history as one disconnected thing after another. Gelvin states a theme at the beginning of the book and sticks to it. For Gelvin, the conflict has had three phases: the first involved the initial encounter between two peoples (Jewish settlers and Arabs); the second began in 1948 when it was defined as an interstate "Arab-Israeli conflict" and the Palestinian question dropped off the map for most of the world (except the PLO); the third began in 1993 when Israelis and Palestinians recognized each other and brought the conflict full circle. This should be obvious, yet no one else I've read has said this directly. Also, the author keeps reminding the reader of the global context for the conflict, from the emergence of nationalism in Europe and its impact on Jews and Arabs in the nineteenth century to the impact of the end of the Cold War.
This is definitely a five star book, but I can see how it will drive some people nuts (i.e. those who can't bring themselves to use the words "Palestine" or "Palestinian" in their reviews). Zionists claim their nationalism is special, but Gelvin points out that it is pretty much a typical 19th century nationalism: it reconstructs Jewish history in its image, it insists that Jews have a right to establish a sovereign state on a piece of land they ruled thousands of years ago, etc. But all nationalisms do the same thing. What will really drive people nuts is that Gelvin shows how much Zionism and Palestinian nationalism resemble each other: both invent traditions, both claim to fulfill their peoples' national destinies, both have used terror to accomplish their goals. Gelvin doesn't let the Zionists off the hook, but he doesn't let the Palestinians off the hook either. Just read his analysis of the PLO doctrine of armed struggle or his profile of Arafat. His argument here is simple: while both national movements have a lot to answer for, if you accept the right of Jews or Palestinians to self-determination, you really can't ignore the right of the other side to self-determination either.
One small criticism: I read another book by this author (The Modern Middle East) in which he added inserts with anecdotes and stories that were related to points raised in the main text. They were a really good read, and I wish he did the same in this book.
Misleading.......2005-08-20
Gelvin is a professor who knows plenty of facts. But that does not stop him from misleading his readers in this piece of propaganda.
This book does have some really interesting material in it. Some of it is about Masada. Here, the author complains that the traditional Masada story is pretty far off. I tend to agree with much of what Gelvin says here. But I also feel that Gelvin is wrong to imply that Masada is being used as an excuse by Jews for the policies of Israel. I think Israeli policies are typically driven by a desire of Israel to protect the rights of its citizens.
The author discusses Golda Meir's comments about the Levantine Arab nation not having existed prior to 1967. Gelvin and I disagree here: he says that Meir's claim was absurd, while I say it was accurate. As a matter of fact, I think the Levantine Arabs still do not behave like a nation. They do not ask for rights for themselves. They do not ask for land. They ask only for less rights for Jews. They are more like the Sudeten Germans, who did not ask for independence, but merely for an end to Czech independence. Or the Ku Klux Klan, which does not ask for freedom for Whites, but an end to freedom for Blacks.
Gelvin spends some time discussing the Levantine Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. This exhibit looked like an idealized Jewish "tower and stockade" construction. And I found the whole section quite interesting. But I was shocked that Gelvin did not appear to take a strong stand against the way the British were treating the Jews at the time. As I see it, the British White Paper of 1939 was one of the most obviously evil acts of a rather wicked twentieth century. I can't imagine why anyone would want to appear to be neutral about it. But Gelvin implies that the Jews should have been more moderate, at a time when we can all see that moderation was totally unsuccessful in preventing a truly huge disaster in which millions of Jews were murdered. That's quite a view to take.
Just to make sure that we readers can be sure where Gelvin stands, he then whitewashes the "poetry" of racist thugs such as Mahmoud Darwish. And he casually mentions that the Jews took land that belonged to the Arabs. But wait a second. Does all land belong to the Arabs? Even land that wasn't Arab before, or was sold by the Arabs to others? Gelvin is misleading his readers quite badly here by implying that all of the Levant was (and is) rightfully Arab land. And he has to know better than that.
In my opinion, if the Arabs want peace, they can have it in five minutes, just by calling off their war and abiding Jewish rights in the region. I suspect the Jews truly want peace, even one that may not be totally fair to them. But it doesn't matter: the Jews would have no choice but to accept such a peace, since they need peace to survive and prosper.
I think we need some scholarly works on the Arab war against Israel, rather than all the propaganda we see. And I think that Gelvin knew enough material to write such a book. Unfortunately, he did not write that book. He wrote this one.
Book Description
Now in its third edition, this classic study has been updated for the first time in more than twenty years.
Chaim Herzog, former President of Israel, was involved in every conflict involving Israel and its Arab neighbors from before the 1948 War of Independence.
The Arab-Israeli Wars is Herzog’s acclaimed history of Israel’s fight since 1947 to preserve her existence against repeated attacks. Revised after his death by friend and colleague General Shomo Gazit, this new edition also covers the events of the past twenty years, including the pullout from Lebanon, both intifadas, the first Gulf War, the Oslo Process, and beyond. Riveting, informative, and comprehensive, this authoritative account tells the story of Israel’s struggle to survive but gives a clear picture of the people and politics that continue to shape the destiny of this crucial region.
Customer Reviews:
The Arab-Israeli Wars: Revised Edition.......2006-11-06
The book is an excellant study of small war tactics through Israel's occupation of Lebanon. While I don't agree with the U.S. allied with Israel; this is still an outstanding overview of the way Israel fights its wars.
Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Lenghty Study of the Conflict.......2006-09-15
This is a solid, and lengthy study of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The reader benefits from the author's inside knowledge of the topic for sure. That said, this is not a short history of the subject. Those seeking that will not find it here. This is primarily a military history. Those seeking more social and political perspectives will not find too much of that here. This is basically a chronogical study of the various Arab-Israeli wars from 1948 to the present. The author does a fine job describing each event in good detail. His inside knowledge provides an authoritative approach to the subject. The narrative is also clearly written and easy to read. There is more than a slight pro-Israeli bias, but it is not distorting. Herzog credits the Arabs on occasion, and reserves his own political views for the most part. He is often much harder on Israeli set-backs than he is on the Arabs. This in itself implies in his bias that more is expected from the IDF than its opponets. For a comprehenive military history of the Arab-Israeli conflict this is a must read. Those seeking a more general approach should look elsewhere.
Detailed book on the military side of the Arab-Israeli conflict.......2006-02-16
This book offers a detailed look at the tactical and operational level. It does not offer much for the strategic level. Nor does it contain a lot of interviews in the "I was there" mode. This book tells you what this company/battalion/brigade was doing and why. I don't think I am ranting if I say the author tilts towards the Israeli view on events. I read this book exactly for what it offers. There are other books out there for the "big picture". I disagree strongly with a previous reviewer who described the book as tedious. This book can be criticized but not for being tedious. This is the Israeli version of Mellenthin's Panzer Battles and that is how it should be taken.
A Necessary Addition To Any Mid East Library.......2006-01-07
Former Israeli president Chain Herzog's account of the wars/conflicts between The State of Israel and her Arab neighbors is a riveting history. The book covers almost every Israeli military operation from 1948-2004 (this refers to the most recent version updated by former Israeli Intelligence officer Shlomo Gazit).
I personally liked how the book covered the little known conflicts, such as Israel's counter terror raids against PLO bases in Karameh, Jordan and Samu in the West Bank. In addition The book is complete with countless maps and photos. Maps of some battles (such as the Suez raids in the late 60s-early 70s between the Israelis and Egyptians) are incredibly detailed and as far as my own reading of other books can tell me, can't be found in other books.
The book was also quite objective, even comming from one of Israel's former presidents. The only flaw I found in the book was when Herzog claims Gen. Sharon increased fixed defenses 5-7 miles from the Suez Canal, for $500 million (see pg. 220). In reality Ariel Sharon who talks about this in his autobiography, Warrior, actually removed troops and shut down much of the Bar-Lev line. He, like General Patton some 30 years before did not belive in fixed emplacements, and felt they could serve better as small forward observation posts.
This book is perfect for anyone studying the Middle East, Zionism, terrorism, or modern armed conflict. You can't find a better account of Israel's wars in any other book.
The Arab-Israel Wars by One Tough(Jewish)Irishman.......2005-11-28
Chaim Herzog(1918-1997) who served as Israel's Ambassador to The
UN was easily my favorite UN ambassador from any country at any time-to the organization I despise;It was Herzog,who I first saw denounce the UN's equation of Zionism-as racism-and more to the point,as an Irishman-whenever I saw him in action,I always figured he would've preferred to line up all the idiots in the UN,take 'em outside and knock 'em out.Aside from that,he was also my favorite,clear speaking guy to listen to;I just wish he would've done a few fights with Howard Cosell.But he did everything else,including commanding a tank division in WW II,being involved in the capture of Heinrich Himmler,President of Israel-and in this case,the author of possibly the most concise,clear book on the wars between Israel and its neighbors.
Book Description
An Oxford-trained historian who became Israeli Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami was a key figure in the Camp David negotiations and many other rounds of peace talks, public and secret, with Palestinian and Arab officials. He offers here an unflinching account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, informed by his firsthand knowledge of the major characters and events. Clear-eyed and unsparing, Ben-Ami traces the twists and turns of the Middle East conflict and the many missteps of the Israelis and Palestinians. The author paints particularly trenchant portraits of key figures from Ben-Gurion to Bill Clinton, and gives us behind-the-scenes accounts of the meetings in Oslo, Madrid, and Camp David. He is highly critical of Ariel Sharon and the late Yasser Arafat ("the sad embodiment of an archaic political orthodoxy devoid of a vision for the future"). He sees Arafat's rejection of Clinton's peace plan as a crime against the Palestinian people. The author is also critical of President Bush's Middle East policy ("a presumptuous grand strategy"). And along the way, Ben-Ami highlights the many blunders on both sides, describing for instance how the great victory of the Six Day War launched many Israelis on a misbegotten "messianic" dream of controlling all the Biblical Jewish lands, actually making the Palestinian problem much worse. In contrast, it has only been when Israel has suffered setbacks that it has made moves towards peace. The best hope for the region, he concludes, is to create an international mandate in the Palestinian territories that would lead to the implementation of Clinton's two-state peace parameters. Scars of War, Wounds of Peace is a major work of history--with by far the most fair and balanced critique of Israel ever to come from one of its key officials. It is an absolute must-read for everyone who wants to understand the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Customer Reviews:
A SUPERB ASSESSMENT.......2007-03-23
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY WELL-DONE BOOK, VERY WELL GROUNDED IN THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM AND ISRAEL. BEN-AMI COMES TO GRIPS WITH THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF BOTH THE JEWISH AND ARAB COMMUNITIES, THEIR MYOPIA AND FATAL FLAWS. IT IS VERY REALISTIC ON THE NATURE OF ISRAEL--ITS MESSIANISM, HYSTERIA, AND MILITARISM--AND THE VENAL CHARACTER OF ARAFAT AND THE P L O. THIS IS THE BEST BOOK ON THIS ISSUE I HAVE READ, AND I HAVE SEEN ISRAEL THOROUGHLY. IT IS VERY OBJECTIVE...AND VERY PESSIMISTIC.
Excerpt from the London Review of Books, By Tony Judt.......2006-09-22
Since its inception the state of Israel has fought a number of wars of choice (the only exception was the Yom Kippur War of 1973). To be sure, these have been presented to the world as wars of necessity or self-defence; but Israel's statesmen and generals have never been under any such illusion. Whether this approach has done Israel much good is debatable (for a clear-headed recent account that describes as a resounding failure his country's strategy of using wars of choice to `redraw' the map of its neighbourhood, see Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy by Shlomo Ben-Ami, a historian and former Israeli foreign minister).
Ramblings By A Pseudo-Intellectual Naive Fool.......2006-07-20
Ehud Barak, who was willing to compromise, cater and appease the Arabs so much that he not only offered 96% of Judea-Samaria to Arafat at Camp David, but also chose to deliberately betray Israel's only true Arab Ally and Friend, the South Lebanese Army, knowingly chose Shlomo Ben-Ami to be his Foreign Minister in the talks with Arafat. He did so after David Levy balked at Barak's plans to return to the 1967 pre-Six Day War borders. Ben-Ami would be extremely willing, and like Barak willing to give up the Israeli store.
Enter Ben-Ami. Ben-Ami had always been on record advocating peace, to his credit, but the peace he always advocated reflected Barak's own thinking of one-sided concessions without nothing in return from an Arafat and his cronies who wanted nothing more than the destruction of Israel. The blinders fell off Ben-Ami at Camp David when after signing off to practically everything Arafat demanded and Barak offered, the Palestinians refused Barak's offer of joint sovereignty over Jerusalem as well as all of the territories both Barak and Ben-Ami were willing to turn over to them. They wanted COMPLETE CONTROL of the Old City. Even Ben-Ami, who hadn't heard this, was horrified, and ended up in a shouting match with one of Arafat's stooges. Arafat returned home, and promptly ordered the New Intifada to target Israeli women and children rather than seeking peace.
Despite this, or in spite of this, Ben-Ami still doesn't get it. He will blame his own leaders, Golda Meir and Menachem Begin for standing firm in the face of Arab terror and aggression. He openly admires James Baker, who with Madeleine Albright were the two most hostile Secretaries of State in American Diplomatic History (along with John Foster Dulles) when it came to Israel's security interests. He thinks peace is still possible, and that Arafat is an anomaly - to his credit he singles out the PLO head for the failure of peace negotiations.
Despite witnessing Palestinian duplicity and lies, Ben-Ami suggests that a primarily hostile world, America excluded, should impose a settlement on Israel.(It would be interesting to see how this appeaser sees who is behind the current carnage initiated by his negotiation partners today) But Ben-Ami remains clueless on what was behind the election of Hamas, or why the majority of Palestinians would be happy if Israel ceased to exist. An inept foreign minister, and a clueless ex-foreign minister in a peace camp that has been all but destroyed by missiles descending on Israeli cities, and the kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldiers.
Ben-Ami is praised by other reviewers, and the consensus is that he is a peace-loving intellectual. He might be peace-loving, but this is not a very-well written book, and he comes across naive and stupid, surprising for an someone who claims to be an Israeli realist. Don't bother.
Read Yossef Bodansky's "The High Cost of Peace" for a truer account of what happened at Camp David instead, and how inept and foolish the Israeli negotiators including this pseudo-intellectual "piece (of Israelis) now" minister Ben-Ami really were in the face of Arafat's true desire to destroy their country.
Complex Insights.......2006-05-21
I'd been wanting to find an informed, intelligent, even-handed history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, and I have.
This book is brilliant. Ben-Ami approaches the complexities and contradictions of the Middle East relationships with a fair, open mind and the insight that comes from both his educational background and his unique perspective as a peace negotiator. We find a history of a region that is, in a word, exasperating, and yet hope does not fall to despair. It is telling that while Ben-Ami shows great empathy for both the Jewish and Arab populace, he keeps a savvy eye on the sometimes self-serving motivations of their leaders.
Sadly, those who have already chosen sides and shut their minds will probably be able to cherrypick segments to bolster their own views, but they'll learn nothing. But for those readers who wish to attempt to grasp the area's passions and fears, on all sides, this is the book to read.
Shlomo's masterpiece.......2006-03-29
This book is the product of Shlomo Ben-Ami's life time of studying the Arab-Israeli conflict both as an historian and a diplomat. The result is truly a masterpiece, perhaps the best single volume on a conflict that has produced a library full of books. This volume holds nothing back and is rigorous in its analysis of all the players in the tragedy of the conflict. No side is spared a critical review. Perhaps the best chapter is on the Camp David summit in 2000 and why it failed. Here the reader benefits from the insights of one of the key negotiators as Shlomo Ben-Ami served as Israel's Foreign Minister during the talks. His analysis of the Israeli, Palestinian and American players at the summit and in the talks that followed until the election of Prime Minister Sharon in 2001 is probably the best available to date.
Book Description
Arabs and Jews describe the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 in completely different ways. Among Arabs, and especially Palestinians, the events of that year are known as the "nakba" - the catastrophe, the trauma, the disaster. For Jews, and in particular for Israelis, their victory in the war of 1948 is a veritable miracle in which, against tremendous odds and through heroic military effort, the Jewish community succeeded in thwarting attempts by the Arab states to destroy it.This book integrates new archival material with the findings of recent scholarship to present the reader with a comprehensive and general history of the origins and consequences of the 1948 war. The author shows, in sharp contrast to the recollections and myths of both sides, that the military events of 1948 were not decisive. The victory of the Zionist organization and the fate of the Palestinians was determined by politicians on both sides - in the discussions and decisions of the United Nations in 1947-8 and in the Arab League - long before a shot had been fired. The author argues that Israel's failure to take advantage of the genuine opportunity for peace with the Arabs at the UN-sponsored Lausanne Conference in 1949 resulted in the prolonged and tragic conflict between Israel and the Arab states still very much alive today.
Customer Reviews:
An Honest Accounting of the Palestinian's Impoverishment.......2003-03-06
Ilan Pappe is one of the "new historians", a group of Israeli historians who are determined to accurately account for how Israel came to be. It must take courage if you are a Jewish historian and a professor at the University of Haifa, Israel, to give an unvarnished account of how the Jews took the land that comprises Israel. In 1900, the Palestinians owned all 10,000 sq. miles that made up Palestine (now known as Israel, West Bank, and Gaza) - the Palestinians had a well-developed society with villages, civil administration, olive groves, literature, etc... it had been a Muslim society for 1,300 years. But by 2000, the Israelis owned 8,000 sq. miles and occupied the rest. How did this happen? Did the Israelis purchase the land or did they simply take it, driving the Palestinians off their land into refugee camps, poverty, and desperation? Ilan Pappe tells us. It is interesting to me how determined the Israelis are to change the history of Israel and how so few know the real story. It is doubly interesting to see how furious they get when one of their own departs the party line and tells how it really happened. This book is calm and careful with its facts; it is well researched and thoroughly referenced. It will surprise you... the story of Israel is different to what you probably now think. Israelis do not want you to read this book.
Average customer rating:
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Coalition Defection: The Dissolution of Arab Anti-Israeli Coalitions in War and Peace
Avi Kober
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
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ASIN: 0275977226 |
Book Description
Since the creation of Israel, during both wartime and peacetime, many Arab coalitions have formed. Every one of these anti-Israel coalitions has failed to achieve its goals due to the defection of one or more major parties. Kober explores the forces behind the dissemination of these alliances to determine why Arab states chose defection; whether or not a distinction can be made between defection patterns in times of war and patterns related to peace processes; and possible explanations for different behavior patterns. The multi-polar structure of the Arab subsystem, the decisions of pivotal members, and the negative reputations earned by such coalitions have always made defection an easy alternative. The choice to defect was, Kober contends, nurtured by a sense of military weakness and by the priority that coalition members attached to their particular interests over general Arab concerns. Kober finds that defection in time of war has arisen mainly through evasion-passive avoidance of coalition obligations with the hope of escaping or minimizing expected losses. Defection from military coalitions often deprived the defector of maximizing gains, all the while weakening the remaining coalition members. However, defection during the peace process served not only to optimize the defector's utilities, but eventually proved beneficial for the parties left behind. Kober determines that the peace process, mainly due to superpower involvement, transformed the scenario from a zero-sum to a non-zero-sum game, by rewarding the parties for signing treaties with Israel. Also, the first defectors, such as Egypt, established pay-off precedents, creating the foundation for future negotiations between the Arab players and Israel.
Book Description
From the early days of the secret Oslo talks through the recent crises and new developments in Israel and Palestine, Yossi Beilin has been at the center of it all. This book highlights his intensive and historic meetings with President Clinton, Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres, Hosni Mubarek, King Hussein of Jordan and Madeleine Albright, as well as Beilin's crucial connections with such seminal Arab leaders as Yassir Arafat, Saeb Erikot, Faisal Husseini and the first prime minister of "Palestine," Abu Mazen. The Beilin-Mazen agreements are the basis of the current "road map" to Middle East peace.
The reader is carried with Beilin to Bill Clinton's Oval Office, Mubarek's Cairo, Hussein's Amman, and many other centers of global power-becoming privy to historic encounters and the surprising details of those negotiations, both public and secret.
In Path, we learn how Beilin came to be this world leader in search of peace, how he overcame all the inherent difficulties, how he interfaced with world leaders and how he sees a solution to this ancient problem that creates a fair resolution for all sides.
This book is an extremely important and inspiring document, giving hope via pragmatism and the personal will of a dedicated, brilliant diplomat and visionary participant in this most challenging of arenas.
Dr. Yossi Beilin served as Israel's Minister of Justice from 1999 to 2001. A member of the Knesset for 11 years, Beilin has held ministerial positions in the governments of Rabin, Peres and Barak. He is a leading proponent of the peace process and initiated the secret talks resulting in the '93 Oslo Accords. He is the author of several books, including Israel: A Concise Political History, Touching Peace, and The Manual For Leaving Lebanon.
Customer Reviews:
Posiblity for Peace Still Exists.......2005-09-09
This book provides a great insight into the quest for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The author is an Israeli government insider having been a member of the Knesset and the cabinet. He was involved in the negotiations for peace. He gives an inspiring view of the moderate Israeli fight to create a permanent solution to the 50 years of war.
This book takes a real view to the end of negotiations and the reality of the second intifada. The author holds out for negotiations to begin again and knows that when they do there is no reason to start the peace process again, but should start with the agreements reached in Taba in 2001. Or the posibility exists that negotiations could be based on the authors own personal negotiations that continued beyond Taba, the Geneva Agreement.
After reading this book, I was happy to see that there are both Israelis and Palestinians who have continued to work on hammering out the differences that were left after the end of official negotiations. It gave me a sense that the possiblity for peace can still be a reality.
Book Description
In July 2000, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat refused to negotiate a peace offer made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David. At the end of September the Palestinians then launched their second intifada, an outbreak of terrorism in the heart of Israel’s cities that continues to this day. The unprecedented violence drove Barak from office and brought to power the feared hard-liner Ariel Sharon.
In RIGHT TO EXIST, Yaacov Lozowick, an Israeli historian, describes his evolution from a liberal peace activist into a reluctant supporter of Sharon. In making sense of his own political journey, Lozowick rewrites the whole history of Israel, delving into the roots of the Zionist enterprise and tracing the long struggle to establish and defend the Jewish state in the face of implacable Arab resistance and widespread international hostility.
Lozowick examines each of Israel’s wars from the perspective of classical “just war” theory, from the fight for independence to the present day. Subjecting the country’s founders and their descendants to unsparing scrutiny, he concludes that Israel is neither the pristine socialist utopia its founders envisioned, nor the racist colonial enterprise portrayed by its enemies. Refuting dozens of pernicious myths about the conflict—such as the charge that Israel stole the land from its rightful owners, or that Arabs and Jews are locked in a “cycle of violence” for which both bear equal blame—RIGHT TO EXIST is an impassioned moral history of extraordinary resonance and power.
Customer Reviews:
Not what you think..........2007-05-21
i read this book to give myself an education on the Middle East problems and who was to blame for them. i found a book filled with facts and history that enlightened me profoundly. Unfortunately for the author, when i finished the book i didn't hold with the most of the views he expressed in the book. His facts left me more knowledgeable about what happened, although in the end, i could not agree with him in the end on why it was alright that it did happen that way.
After reading his book i feel Lozowick's moral defence falls flat on its face.
What the Arab-Israeli conflict is all about.......2006-12-31
In this phenomenal work, Yaakov Lozowick , the director of the archives at Yad Vashem,Israel's Holocaust Museum and the author of "Hitler's Bureaucrats, The Nazi Security Police and the Banality of Evil, embarks on both a moral evaluation of Israel's wars for survival, as well as an indictment on the bigots of the world, who deny tiny Israel's right to exist.
As Cynthia Ozick describes so eloquently "The title alone - the scandal of calling into question a living nation's existence-ought to shame the prevaricators and defamers, whether they be professors in universities , media distorters, peace activists' who justify terror, morally deformed intellectuals, self-deceiving unconfused haters, or merely the herd of the easily led"
The introduction describes why the author, a lifelong liberal and peace activist, in the wake of the collapse of the Oslo process, and Arafat's launching of war of terror against Israel's populace, voted for Ariel Sharon of the center right Likud Party,traditionallly regarded as a hawk and hardliner(although his record as Prime Minister was to prove the opposite).
Lozowick describes how former Prime Minster, the center left Ehud Barak, at Camp David 2000, offered the Palestinian Authority the whole of Gaza and almost all of the West Bank, (including most of East Jerusalem), and in response Arafat stormed out of the talks and launched a terror war against the Israeli people, in which thousands of Israeli Jews (mainly women and children) have been murdered, maimed, terrorized, widowed and orphaned.
In response to Arab terror war against them, the Israeli people voted for Ariel Sharon, war hero who had been vilified by Israel's enemies around the world as well as by section of Israel's left.
The election of Sharon led to a barrage of intemperate condemnation of Israel by the UN, the international media, world governments and groups like Amnesty International, placing all the blame for the conflict on Israel's shoulders ignoring the fact that Israel had recently chosen peace and been given a war of terror instead.
Lozowick describes some of the Arab terror, such as the shooting of ten month old Jewish infant, Shalevet Pass, in her stroller on a playground, in Hebron, the murder of five month old Yehuda Shoham who had his head smashed in by a rock thrown at his parents car, and the bombing of the Dolphin Disco in Tel Aviv, in which 17 teenagers, mostly girls, were murdered and others cruelly maimed and disfigured.
As a historian and archivist for Yad Vashem memorial, Lozowick describes how he had unearthed snap shots of some Shoah victims. For the first time, a friend of Lozowicks , saw pictures of his father as a young man ,and of his aunts, who did not survive the Shoah. He was astounded by the striking similarity of his own daughter to one of his aunts. "It was almost as if she had been given a second chance at life. For his daughter, the discovery served as a trigger to develop a serious sense of her own particiapation in the flow of Jewish history. Fifteen year old Malki Roth was murdered at the Sbarro pizzeria in the center of Jerusalem. Israel did not react to all of these killings , until in March 2002, an Arab suicide bomber struck at the Park Hotel in Netnaya, killing twenty-nine Jews as they sat down to the Passover Seder table-the most family orientated moment of the year.
Israel reacted by launching a campaign to go after the terrorists in their own lairs , a ground assault to ensure the minimum of Arab civilians were hurt. This led to a worldwide orgy of hatred , directed at Israel, by most of the world. Shrieks of loathing told of a massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Jenin , an allegation by the media that turned out to be false. The massacre had not taken place. It was a blood libel. The Israelis had ensured that very few civilians had died, which lead to a greater toll of casualties among Israeli soldiers.
When Jews were massacred the world was silent, when Israel decided to act , using ethics higher than any other nation , at time of war , the world erupted into hateful hysteria against Israel and all her people.
In Chapter 1 Lozowick outlines the early history of Zionism and Jewish resettlement in Israel, explaining the depths of the ancient roots of the Jews to the Land of Israel, renamed Palestine by the Romans in 70 CE in order to cut off the Jewish historical connection to the land. He refutes hate-moner Edward Said who claims that the early Zionists were not capable as seeing the Arabs as fully human; pointing out that this in fact described rather, Arab attitudes towards the Jews, with much greater justification. He also refutes the revisionist historians, who sprang up in the 1980's with the goal of distorting the history of the Land of Israel to deny any Jewish rights there. Lozowick recounts the bloody Arab pogrom against the Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1920,which started the war against the Jews presence in the Land of Israel, that has continued for the last 86 years, the 1921 attacks on Jews in Jaffa and Petach Tikva, the massacre and destruction of the ancient Jewish community of Hebron in 1929 , together with further pogroms in Jerusalem , and the Nazi-inspired war by the Arabs against the Land of Israel's Jewish population of 1936 to 1939 in which thousands of Jews were butchered.
During the British Mandate over 'Palestine' from 1917-1947, the Jews and Arabs made many of the key decisions regarding each other. The Jews made settlements a central element of their efforts, the Arabs chose violent rejection of Jewish presence and sovereignty as their hallmark. Not much has changed in eight decades, as the author points out.
While people have been emigrating and changing the demographics of their new lands throughout human history (and it is unfair to describe this as 'colonialism'), in human history there has never been a case where a group migrated to a land it had lost for longer than living memory. Indeed very few nations have lasted over two thousand years as the Jews have. "Moreover" Lozowick reminds us, if the Jews are a nation, how can it be moral, to deny them a place of their own, like other nations. At most you can measure the morality of a nations behavior, not its existence."
I would go so far as to say that denying a nation's right to exist is racism, akin to Nazism, hence in the opinion of the reviewer anti-Zionism is Nazism.
From 1920 Jews have been attacked in the Land of Israel because they are Jews because the Arabs did not want Jews in Palestine, hence the fashionable distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is a false one.
The author also describes tow parallel developments during the British Mandate , the immigration of Arabs into 'Palestine' by the hundreds of thousands -too many Arab villages were growing up next to Jewish ones to fast to be explained merely as natural population growth. While the British recorded the statistics of Jewish immigration, they did not count the masses of Arabs crossing into the Palestine Mandate.
Secondly the hundreds of thousands of Jews clamoring to get out of Europe , and into 'Palestine' were blocked from doing so , and were mostly dead by 1945. Every single Jew who wanted to immigrate to Palestine, but was denied the chance by the growing restrictions can be laid to the account of Palestinian violence and British appeasement; the number probably runs to the hundreds of thousands. Even this small fraction of Jewish dead exceeds all of the losses of Palestinian lives in the conflict with Zionism...the Palestinian decision at this time was to join the anti-Jewish camp at it's violent edge. Let this be kept in mind when the Palestinian propagandists decry their victimization by the victims of the Nazis."
The author also points out how although millions of people around the world , have been made into refugees , the only ones not to have been resettled have been the Palestinian Arabs, who have retained their refugee status, in order to use as a weapon against Israel. This in contrast to the 700 000 Jewish refugees expelled, after generations, from Arab countries in 1948, and all were resettled in Israel.
The author, while pointed out that Israeli actions have not always been perfect or praiseworthy, have been of higher moral caliber to all other armies in wartime, regardless of all the sick propaganda to the contrary. He points out that never has a Jew entered a Palestinian home and killed a Palestinian child in her bed, as Arabs have done countless times to Jewish children.
Lozowick still believes that the time may still come for a peace deal leading to two states living side by side, but that first the Arabs must genuinely accept Israel's right to exist, and give up the dream of controlling all of the Land of Israel, which would lead to the entire land being completely emptied of Jews, as most of Europe would be during World War II.
The author believes that this will take many generations, well over a century, before they realize that they cannot drive the Jews out.
It would help of course if they were not encouraged in their genocidal dreams, by far-left bigots in academia, the media, NGO's and politics to name a few of the hotbeds of anti-Israel hate.
The Right of Israel to exist is what the conflict is all about and always has been ,not about 'occupation, 'apartheid', refugees', or any of the other Goebellesque propaganda ploys designed to set up Israel and her people for destruction i.e. to prepare a second holocaust.
The truth about Israel from a moral pooint of view.......2006-12-27
This is a powerful, ethical and honest discussion of Israel's history and the history of her hundreds of millions of Arab neighbors who have done all they can to destroy this tiny country (about the size of Vermont). The author is a historian of the Holocaust who truly believed in the Oslo accords and the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, only to learn that the process was a sham. This book does an excellent job of explaining how the powerful Arab countries of the Middle East exploit the Palestinians to permit the perpetuation of war and why the Palestinians have rejected and will reject any solution that permits Israel to continue to exist as a Jewish state and democracy.
Defending the defenders.......2006-07-13
In a work both impassioned and measured, Yaacov Lozowick, director of the archives at Yad Vashem, Israel's holocaust Museum, offers a moral evaluation of Israel's conduct in successive wars, showing its punctilious regard for the norms of warfare and the aspirations of the liberal democratic state. Lozowick is a man of the Left disabused of the prospects of peace in the wake of the Oslo war's outbreak in September 2000 and the collapse of prospects for a general Arab-Israeli peace. International outcry directed almost exclusively at Israel for both the outbreak of hostilities and its conduct in combating Palestinian terrorism moved Lozowick to enumerate the charges, mostly malicious, levelled at Israel's conduct and ultimately its existence. He accompanies the arguments with a helpful autobiographical element that underscores the evolution of his political views in relation to the events described. To witness through his retelling the collapse of cherished illusions about peace prospects as one event after another undermined them enhances the impact of his case.
Lozowick shows that in one war after another--1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982, plus lesser conflicts--Israel has generally conducted itself with great restraint over and above what has been demonstrated by other states in comparable conflicts. As Lozowick notes of the 1967 war, for example, while it brought nearly one million Arab civilians under Israeli rule, no expulsions or massacres followed, showing that the lessons of earlier Israeli military lapses in which Arab civilians had been killed (Kibiya, Kassem) had been duly learned.
He concludes that "the will to murder Jews was never the result of oppression and can never be resolved by removing it" - a neat summary of his view that the conflict between Arab and Jew is not the product of grievances that Israeli policy can assuage.
Some readers might argue with Lozowick's philosophical basis: it is arguable whether just war theory can possess all the clear-cut answers he would like at his disposal to moral dilemmas posed by a war in which even the pretense of a rule book has been discarded by suicide bombers. Others might object to his unapologetic effort to set a higher bar for Israeli conduct than that set for all other states. But problematic or otherwise, the more stringent formula he adopts only makes his ultimate conclusions the more persuasive.
Too passionate for the rational amongst us!.......2005-10-26
This book is indeed passionate. Too passionate for those who really want to learn about and understand the situation in the Middle East. In the first few pages we are told about little Jewish babies slaughtered in their cribs as Arabs from Pakistan to Morocco celebrated! Come on! First, Pakistanis are not Arabs! Neither is their neighbor Afghanistan or its neighbor Iran. The Arab world starts in Iraq. Indeed, the languages of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are ALL Indo-European -- meaning they are closer to English than to Arabic. It is out of this fantasy of a geography that this book is written to perpetuate myths and calm Zionist guilt about the Palestinian Nakba (dispossession and ethnic cleansing). Second, I am not sure where this new blood libel (killing babies in cribs) against Palestinians is coming from (the ratio of deaths in the current Intifada is still 3 to 1 Palestinian to Israeli civilians with higher percentage of children on the Palestinian side.
This book potentially perpetuates more anti-Semitism than a more historically honest description of the situation of the middle east. Its point about Israel's right to exist is trivial. Israel is a fact of life in the Middle East. It does exist. The question should be does Palestine has a right to exist as a neighbor to Israel, where Palestinians can live in peace without Israeli checkpoints, one-ton bombs and sniping settlers?
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Pathways to Peace: The Multilateral Arab-Israeli Peace Talks
Joel Peters
Manufacturer: Royal Institute of International Affairs
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- Everyone Should Read before forming an Opinion
- Compassionate, yet frustrating & incomplete.
- Blessed Are The Peacemakers
- Another Correction
- Correction
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Death as a Way of Life: Israel Ten Years After Oslo
David Grossman
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Book Description
A Personal Chronicle of the Last Ten Years from a Leading Voice of Israeli Dissent
What went wrong after Oslo? How can Israelis and Palestinians make peace? How has the violence changed their lives, and their souls? For the last ten years, David Grossman, one of Israel’s great fiction writers, has addressed these questions in a series of passionate essays and articles, writing not only as one of his country’s most respected novelists and reporters, but as a husband and father and peace activist bitterly disappointed in the leaders of both sides.
Appearing for the first time in America, these pieces show us the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the inside and in the moment. They are indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand the roots and results of the fighting today.
Customer Reviews:
Everyone Should Read before forming an Opinion.......2004-07-13
I had to read this book for a college class, but ended up enjoying it anyway. While he does not reach any conclusions, I do not think that is his intention. Rather, he offers an emotional first-hand look at the complex situation that has developed in the Middle East. The reader experiances the highs and lows of the recent peace efforts, from the hope of Oslo to the tragedy of assassination. There is also an excellent essay on the Holocaust and the effects on Germany and Israel. No matter one's views on the Middle East conflict, this is a book worth reading. Grossman is moderate and rational, a viewpoint that is too often lost in the emotion and horror of the violent cycle that has taken hold in the region.
Compassionate, yet frustrating & incomplete........2004-03-01
The very real suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians permeate the pages of this book and for that it is to be commended. Comprising some 34 articles surrounding the ongoing conflict, this study approaches the issue from a left-wing and a solely, secular stance which clearly hopes for a man-made, peaceful co-existence between the two sides.
However, I found the book to be considerably frustrating at times as I discovered an extremely inaccurate perception of both "Palestinian" and Israeli history where little relevance or importance is placed upon the Jewish heritage to the Land as outlined in the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures, as well as what fundamental Islam has declared in relation to the conflict and the land concerned. Others might disagree.
Without such an understanding & appreciation I personally find that this study is incomplete, despite the noteworthy references to the political process and the failings of those involved amidst the mistrust and despair of the ordinary people on the ground.
The book, whilst recognising the minuscule size of Israel and it's surrounding by numerous, larger, hostile countries drenched in a wave of fundamentalist Islamism, I can but feel uncomfortable with how the source has "legitimatised" the "Palestinian" claim to the disputed territories amidst such a distorted perception of history.
The book correctly describes the conflict as extremely complex and places blame on both sides for the present situation on the ground. This whilst recognising what is depicted as the dread and despair upon the Israeli side where the fingers of an "outstretched hand" of friendship as having been transformed through such anguish into a clenched fist. Indeed, the detail attached to the political aspects of this issue is noteworthy on it's own merits.
Many controversial opinions are outlined in this work and they are recognised by the source as being just that. One opinion is that the Palestinian side has brought about an "intolerable escalation" through the weapon of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians which is cited as "irrational, insane and inhuman" from any perspective.
Would I recommend this book ? - As a complete study on this particular issue...definitely not! For a secular, compassionate reference to the suffering and complexity of the conflict and it's affect upon both sides ...yes it is worthy of that.
However, for a necessary secular grounding in this subject I would highly recommend Joan Peter's epic work entitled "From Time Immemorial; The Origins Of The Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine" as well as Samuel Katz's work entitled "Battleground; Fact & Fantasy In Palestine".
I would also recommend two books which approach the issue from the perspective outlined in the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures, (without which, in my opinion, any context surrounding this matter is incomplete) - Randall Price's "Unholy War; America, Israel and Radical Islam" and Hal Lindsey's "The Everlasting Hatred; The Roots Of Jihad". Thank you for your time.
Blessed Are The Peacemakers.......2004-01-27
Perhaps the greatest insight I got from this collection of essays from David Grossman is that the peacemakers and people who strive for a peaceful solution are truly the greatest heros. It takes courage to overcome base human instincts and seek a fair peace. Mr Grossman does an admirable job of conveying this. This is not so much a book for the Mideast history scholar as it is for the person who wants to get a feel for what it's like to be caught in the maelstrom that envelops Israel and the Palestinian lands today.
Another Correction.......2003-12-30
It should be stated that the Jews didn't "run the British" out of the country like jskibel said. It was far more complicated then that.
It is unfortunate that jskibel, obviously someone who is proud of his heritage, as am I (my father's family escaped what is now known as Lithuania during the holocaust), has let that pride cloud his judgement.
While he is obviously quick to point out Palestinian aggression he does so while seemingly boasting that Israelis drove the British out. I hope that jskibel knows that the Jews, in a quest for a homeland, were doing the same exact thing that the Palestinian militants are doing and that is carrying out terrorist attacks. I guess the main difference now is you have Arabs who resort to blowing themselves up because the guns and rocks that were their original weapon of choice did not work against the tanks of the Israeli Governement.
This book is an extremely balanced view of the current situation. While quick to point out his pride as a Jew and Israeli, David Grossman never once seems to justify the acts of agression that our fellow hebrew brothers carry out. It's unfortunate that such a great book does not create more worthwhile discussion in these reviews instead of the typical finger pointing.
David Grossman seemingly also got what most people don't get... and that is how sad it is that Palestinians have become so desperate that they are willing to kill themselves for their cause. When men and women, some who aren't even old enough to Vote here in the States, carry out suicide attacks we do ourselves no favors by dismissing it as just terrorism, but also finding out what has caused some people to become so desperate as to resort to that type of terrorism.
Great book.
Correction.......2003-10-08
I'd just like to point out to Bryon 72 above that Israel actually did fight a war for independence in 1948. The U.S. did not create Israel "out of pity," as he claims. After the British were driven out by the Israelis, the U.N. devised a partition plan, in which most of what is Israel today would have been given to the Arabs. The Arabs refused to accept the plan and instead declared war on the Jews. The Jews won the war, founded the state, and have been dealing with Arab aggression ever since. As far as Bryon 72's cheap irony goes: when North Americans are willing to die happily in suicide-bombings done by Indians and Mexicans, and Russians are willing to give their land back to the Czar, and the Australians finally decide to go back to England and grant the Aborigines a right of return, and Europeans turn everything back over to the Hapsburgs, then he might have a point or two to make. In the meantime, maybe Grossman is only half right about Israeli paranoia: after all, even paranoiacs sometimes actually have real enemies.
Book Description
Israeli scholar Tanya Reinhart takes a close look at the roots of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and, drawing on maps, the Israeli media, and declassified documents, offers an invaluable analysis of all sides of the issue.
Customer Reviews:
Illuminating.......2006-05-29
This book unveils the vicious circle that is behind the Israeli power which is responsible for the crisis among them and the palestines. The author did a good job of showing the 'generous offer' fraud of the Israeli peace offers and the subsequent media highlight. It shows how the men-in-uniform-turned-politicians dictate every policy according to their military whim and push the region in to anarchy. As a result this book gets harsh criticisms from some other reviewers. It is really illuminating how the author unfolds the untold lies - the myths and realities - of the Oslo agreement and the root cause for the second uprising or intifada.
History and polemic.......2006-04-24
This is probably one of the more biased texts that can be purchased on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is worthwhile to provide to key examples: First the author when writing about the importance of Jerusalem to the Muslims and Jews claims that the Dome of the Rock is where "The Prophet ascended to Heaven" and then claims that the Western Wall is portrayed wrongly as part of the temple complex when it was really a retaining wall. So here we have the classic canard. Muslim beleif is accepted as 100% true and Jewish beleif is discounted. A 'night journey by winged horse from Mecca to jerusalem' become fact and a temple whose stones still exist is called 'myth'. An amazing reversal of history and western logic. It is in fact not true that anyone pretends the Western Wall was "part of the temple complex" and every religious Jew knows it was the wall that help up the temple mount, hence the word 'temple mount'.
Secondly the book accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in 2002. This is interesting considering that there are more Palestinians in 2006 than there were in 2000. If they were ethnically cleansed one would assume there to be less living in the west bank and Gaza, in fact the opposite is true. If what is meant by 'ethnic cleansing' is the killing of more than 1000 Palestinians since 2000, then the same should go for the Palestinian killing of more than 800 jews since 2000. Somehow when one side kills its called 'ethnic cleansing' and the when the ther does it it is called 'freedom fighting and resistance'.
This is how bias works. The author pretends that her credentials as an 'Israeli' are good enough to pass this work off as fact. However merely being born in Israel doesnt make anyone an expert on anything. This book will make great reading for most students of the left who hate Israel, for neo-nazis, and islamists and anti-semites.
Seth J. Frantzman
Incompetent.......2005-10-22
The book is written by a profoundly ignorant individual in Israel history, typical leftist anti-Semitic propaganda to support global islamofascism. Those, who would like to know the truth and be educated in this subject, shall read the excellent documentary study conducted by Professor Francesco Gil-White ([...]) and the book "The Meadeast Peace Process. An Autopsy" Encounter Books, CA, 2002. You will find ,among the other conclusions, that Arafat and PLO has Hitler's Nazi roots, ties, and ideology, and therefore, constitutes a fascist organization with the ultimate goal which is eliminating the state of Israel and exterminating Jews. You will also that there is no and never was ethnic group Palestinians, that the occupied territories are in fact historic Jewish land on which a Jewish state of Israel with Jerusalem as a capital existed long before Arabs expelled Jews, and therefore, the territories in fact have been occupied by Arabs for centuries. Moreover, if you look at the author's curriculum vitae, you will understand that she is just incompetent in the subject.
Reality check.......2005-08-29
This is a book that goes behind the scenes and reveals the truth behind Oslo, Camp David and Taba, exposing the real motives and goals of Israeli politics.
Tanya Reinhart, an Israeli scholar and a strong advocate of a two-state sollution, revisits the not so distant past and, by presenting solid facts, dismantles the myth of Israeli generosity and Palestinian rejectionism, a myth so persistently and widely propagated by Israeli authorities and western media that it has eventually come to replace reality and be perceived as the ultimate truth.
Central to the book is Reinhart's criticism of Israeli policies and especially that of engaging in indefinite negotiations while preserving and advancing the situation in Israel's favor. To quote her exact words "the dream of peace has been replaced by the myth of negotiation".
Reinhart goes on to convincingly explain why she believes that an immediate evacuation of all the jewish settlements in the OTs is the only way faith will be restored and any real headway in solving the conflict will be made.
A very informative, well-researched and honest book, written by someone who has been experiencing and witnessing the hopeless situation on the ground.
There did seem to be a slight problem with the editing or printing of the book, as some notes from the writer to her editor(s) or reviewer(s) still appear in the text. However, don't let that put you off or make you wait for the next edition. This book is definately worth reading.
Wild Conspiracy Theories.......2005-07-22
Tanya Reinhart, a disciple of ultra-left propagandist Noam Chomsky, has produced one of the most extraordinary mythmaking tracts in the history of anti-Israel polemics. The list of discredited fictions revived in this book includes claims that the PLO "developed in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon" (p9); that Israel demolished the PLO Research Center in Beirut for the purpose of "effacing virtually the entire record of collective Palestinian life" (quoting Edward Said) (p130); that the Oslo War was "triggered" by Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount (p88); that "no Palestinian terror attacks on Israeli civilians had yet taken place" before the breakdown of the peace process (p95); that twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durra was killed by Israeli bullets (p108); that Fatah commander Thabet Thabet was killed by Israel because he was a "renowned moderate leader" (pp124-5); and that "the US forced starvation on millions of people" in Afghanistan (p179).
The centerpiece of Reinhart's book is the collapse of the peace process at the Camp David and Taba summits in late 2000. In her view, Ehud Barak wanted to restrict the Palestinian state to "five isolated cantons" and to guarantee that "the settlements will be expanded" (pp44-6). Failing to secure the PLO's surrender, he provoked the second intifada so that he could launch a campaign of state terror. "The easy way to exterminate a weak nation," observes Reinhart, "has always been to drag it into a hopeless war" (p96). Unfortunately, she neglected to explain this intriguing thesis to PLO leaders, who declared that "Barak agreed to a withdrawal from 95% of the occupied Palestinian lands," and boasted that "our eyes will continue to aspire to the strategic goal, namely, to Palestine from the river to the sea," i.e., the destruction of Israel (Faisal Husseini, Al-Safir, Lebanon, March 21, 2001).
Reinhart admits that her account of Israeli machinations has little credibility, noting that "it would take a sick mind to intentionally conceive and execute such a plot," the type found "only in absurd conspiracy theories." As if to confirm the point, she imparts a stunning revelation (p78): Barak and Sharon are running the conspiracy together! So extensive is this collusion that Reinhart has an entire chapter on the subject of "Barak's Version of Sharon." And this is merely the entrée to a much more elaborate fantasy. In her view, Israel is really a secret military dictatorship. After all, in television coverage of Israeli cabinet meetings, one sees "an equal number of uniformed representatives of the various branches of the military" (pp199-200). Count the uniforms! As for the objectives of this carefully disguised military junta, Reinhart is in no doubt: "mass evacuation of the Palestinian residents" under "the umbrella of an extensive regional war" (pp203-4). Her evidence for these claims is precisely nothing.
Discussing Israel's response to the PLO-Hamas terror war, Reinhart asserts that Israeli soldiers play "a little game" in which they like "to shoot a rubber-coated metal bullet straight into a Palestinian's eye." Her source is the Palestinian "human rights" group LAW (pp113-4, 251), infamous for engaging in "anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic" incitement and for misappropriating several million dollars in charitable donations (New York Sun, October 17 & 22, 2003). She also recites the testimony of an IDF officer who announces: "We are very much trying not to kill them." From this she deduces that Israel has a deliberate policy of maiming (pp114-6). Feigning outrage at this horrible crime, she conveniently omits the officer's statement that his soldiers "only shoot to wound Palestinians who are firing at them or throwing firebombs" (Jerusalem Post, October 27, 2000).
Reinhart then unveils her latest discovery: the "untold crime" of Jenin. "Ordinary language allows the use of the word 'massacre' for such cases of indiscriminate killing of civilians," she writes (p155) of the battle that claimed 52 enemy dead, according to UN figures, including 38 terrorists (Yagil Henkin, "Urban Warfare and the Lessons of Jenin," Azure, Summer 2003). Her evidence consists of an Internet posting by an "activist" based in Germany (pp152-3) and an interview with a disgruntled army driver and self-described madman who calls himself "Kurdi Bear" (pp161-5).
Other Reinhart allegations can be refuted with a moment's research. Charging that Israel has a policy of deliberate mass starvation, she quotes statistics on child malnutrition (pp175-7). Yet child malnutrition rates are worse (often far worse) in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela, Yemen, and most of Africa and Asia (World Bank, "World Development Indicators 2005," Table 2.17). Apparently Israel has not been very successful in executing its covert strategy of genocide.
Admittedly, Reinhart does not restrict her focus to the Palestinian victims of Israeli terror. She also mentions the Israeli victims - of Israeli terror. Citing the assurances of a local PLO commander, she argues that Palestinian snipers who attack Israeli neighborhoods are actually working for the Israelis (pp101-2). As for targeted killings of terrorists, these are a clever trick by the Israeli army to provoke Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilians: "those in the military sect have no reservations about sacrificing their own people" (p141).
Thus Reinhart claims that the peace process is a Zionist deception of the PLO, that Barak is in league with his fellow-conspirator Sharon, that Israel is ruled by a secret military junta, that the IDF has a "little game" of shooting people in the eyes, that there was a massacre in Jenin, that Israel is deliberately starving millions of people to death, that Israeli soldiers pay Palestinian snipers to fire into Israeli neighborhoods, and that the Israeli army kills Palestinian terrorists in order to provoke massacres of Israeli women and children. If you enjoy a good laugh at the expense of the radical left, you certainly won't want to miss this ridiculous little book.
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