Greetings, all,
I promised a basic and short reading list on the conflict some time ago, and
here it is. There is, unfortunately, no single book that tells it all, or
even with a semblance of objectivity, so I have included here several
primary sources that reflect the different points of view over what happened
in Palestine, the creation of the State of Israel, and the subsequent
evolution of the conflict. I have left off the many 'rant' books. They
abound for a simple and important reason: the conflict is far from over, and
public opinion is key to what will happen next, so people who are commited
to one side or the other write in a desperate attempt to sway public
opinion, and thus the resolution of the conflict.
The list could easily be ten times longer, but anyone who goes through these
books will have a fairly good understanding of the conflict.
Good reading,
Lawry
----------------------
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Sources of Understanding
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rife with factual disagreement and
argumentation. Both side have created ‘narratives’ of how the conflict came
to be that are profoundly different. The existence of these differing
‘narratives’ makes doubly difficult the resolution of the conflict, as it
creates in both sides profoundly different views of what a just solution
must include.
Terms:
Palestinian, a generally Arab population native to Palestine, with a Muslim
majority and large Christian majority. Many Palestinians now live outside
the areas of the West Bank and Gaza, territories often considered to be the
heart of a future Palestinian state. These Palestinians are generally
classed a refugees
Israeli, a citizen of Israel, with a Jewish majority, and a large
Palestinian Arab minority
Zionist, any advocate of the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine.
Zionists may be Jewish, Christian or other. ‘Zionist’ is a political term
Muslim, a follower of the religion of Islam
Arab, a ethnic designation for a Semitic people who live across North
Africa, in the Arabian Peninsula, and in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
and Iraq
Reading List
Alami, Musa, PEALESTINE IS MY COUNTRY: London: John Murray, 1969
Antonius, George, THE ARAB AWAKENING, The Story of the Arab National
Movement: New York, Putnam’s, 1946
Begin, Menachem, THE REVOLT: London: A.H. Allen, 1951
Ben-Gurion, David, MEMOIRS, New York: World Publishing Co., 1970
Davis, John, THE EVASIVE PEACE, A Study of the Zionist/Arab-Problem: London,
John Murray, 1968
Hadawi, Sami, PALESTINE: LOSS OF A HERITAGE; San Antonio, Naylor, 1963
Quandt, William, PEACE PROCESS, American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli
Conflict since 1967: Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, 2001
Herzel, Theodor, THE JEWISH STATE, An Attempt a Modern Solution of the
Jewish Question: London, Central Office of the Zionist Organization, 1934.
The book that launched the Zionist movement
Weizmann, Chaim, TRAIL AND ERROR, the Autobiography of Chaim Weizmann:
Harper and Brothers, 1949
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