Israel Palestine

In 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teachers gathered to address what to many people seemed an unbridgeable gulf between the two societies. Struck by how different the standard Israeli and Palestinian textbook histories of the same events were from one another, they began to explore how to "disarm" the teaching of the history of the Middle East in Israeli and Palestinian classrooms. The result is a riveting "dual narrative" of Israeli and Palestinian history. Side by Side comprises the history of two peoples, in separate narratives set literally side-by-side, so that readers can track each against the other, noting both where they differ as well as where they correspond. The unique and fascinating presentation has been translated into English and is now available to American audiences for the first time. An eye-opening--and inspiring--new approach to thinking about one of the world's most deeply entrenched conflicts, Side by Side is a breakthrough book that will spark a new public discussion about the bridge to peace in the Middle East.

In Israel/Palestine, Reinhart traces the development of the Security Barrier and Israel’s new doctrine of "disengagement," launched in response to a looming Palestinian-majority population. Examining the official record of recent diplomacy, including United States–brokered accords and talks at Camp David, Oslo, and Taba, Reinhart explores the fundamental power imbalances between the negotiating parties and identifies Israel’s strategy of creating facts on the ground to define and complicate the terms of any future settlement. In this indispensable primer, Reinhart’s searing insight illuminates the current conflict and suggests a path toward change.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine has raised a plethora of unanswered questions, generated seemingly irreconcilable narratives, and profoundly transformed the land’s physical and political geography. This volume seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the links between the region that is now known as Israel and Palestine and its peoples—both those that live there as well as those who relate to it as a mental, mythical, or religious landscape. Engaging the perspectives of a multidisciplinary, international group of scholars, it is an urgent collective reflection on the bonds between people and a place, whether real or imagined, tangible as its stones or ephemeral as the hopes and longings it evokes.

Of all the 'hot-spots' in the world today, the apparently endless clash between the Jews and the Arabs in the Middle East seems unique in its longevity and resistance to resolution. This text places the conflict in its broad historical context before presenting an overview that serves as a 'road map' to a long-term resolution.

The conflict between Israelis and their forebears, on the one hand, and Palestinians and theirs, on the other, has lasted more than a century and generated more than its share of commentaries and histories. James L. Gelvin's account of that conflict offers a compelling, clear-cut, and up to date introduction for students and general readers. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, when the inhabitants of Ottoman Palestine and the Jews of eastern Europe began to conceive of themselves as members of national communities, the book traces the evolution and interaction of these communities from their first encounters in Palestine through to the present, exploring the external pressures and internal logic that has propelled their conflict. The book, which places events in Palestine within the framework of global history, skillfully interweaves biographical sketches, eyewitness accounts, poetry, fiction and official documentation into its narrative, and includes photographs, maps and an abundance of supplementary material. Now in a revised edition, Gelvin's award-winning book takes the reader through the 2006 Summer War and its aftermath.

This book critically assesses a series of complex and topical debates helping readers to make sense of the politics surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Each chapter considers one topic, represented by two or three essays offered in conversation with one another. Together, these essays advance different perspectives; in some cases they are complementary and in others they are oppositional. Topics include scholarly and activist interpretations of narratives in the context of Israel/Palestine; the concept of self-determination for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians; the debate over settler-colonialism as an appropriate framework for interpreting the history of Israel/Palestine; and questions surrounding Jewish and Palestinian refugees and the impact of displacement, among others. Through these foundational and contemporary topics, readers will be challenged to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of each position in light of scholarly debates rooted in social justice and helped to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians in order to see a path forward toward justice for all.

"The conflict between Palestine and Israel is one of the most highly publicized and bitter struggles of modern times, a dangerous tinderbox always poised to set the Middle East aflame, and to draw the United States into the fire. In this volume the author illuminates the history of the problem, reducing it to its very essence. He explores the Palestinian-Israeli dispute in twenty-year segments, to highlight the historical complexity of the conflict throughout successive decades. Each chapter starts with an examination of the relationships among people and events that marked particular years as historical stepping stones in the evolution of the conflict, including the 1897 Basel Congress, the 1917 Balfour Declaration and British occupation of Palestine, and the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan and the war for Palestine. Providing an exploration of the main issues, the author explores not only the historical basis of the conflict, but also looks at how and why partition has been so difficult and how efforts to restore peace continue today"--OCLC

Jeff Halper's book, like his life's work, is an inspiration. Drawing on his many years of directly challenging Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, he offers one of the most insightful analyses of the occupation I've read. His voice cries out to be heard.Jonathan Cook, author of Blood and Religion (2006) and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (2008)In this book, the Israeli anthropologist and activist Jeff Halper throws a harsh light on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the point of view of a critical insider. While the Zionist founders of Israel created a vibrant society, culture and economy, they did so at a high price: Israel could not maintain its exclusive Jewish character without imposing on the country's Palestinian population policies of ethnic cleansing, occupation and discrimination, expressed most graphically in its ongoing demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes, both inside Israel and in the Occupied Territories.An Israeli in Palestine records Halper's journey 'beyond the membrane' that shields his people from the harsh realities of Palestinian life to his 'discovery' that he was actually living in another country: Palestine. Without dismissing the legitimacy of his own country, he realises that Israel is defined by its oppressive relationship to the Palestinians. Pleading for a view of Israel as a real, living country which must by necessity evolve and change, Halper asks whether the idea of an ethnically pure 'Jewish State' is still viable. More to the point, he offers ways in which Israel can redeem itself through a cultural Zionism upon which regional peace and reconciliation are attainable.