Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Charles D. Smith: Book Cover
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Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History with Documents by Charles D. Smith

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  • Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
  • Pub. Date: December 2006
  • ISBN-13: 9780312437367
  • Sales Rank: 69,398
  • 624pp
  • Edition Number: 6
 
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Synopsis

This book provides a concise history of the origins and development of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Equal treatment is given to the period before the creation of Israel in 1948, namely, Arab society in the nineteenth century, the origins of Zionism, and the impact of Zionism on Palestinian Arabs before and after World War I. The first half of the book considers in detail the role played by British and French imperialism in these developments. The second half of the book examines the Arab-Israeli conflict in the light of the Cold War and the later emergence of the Palestinian national movement that culminated in the Israeli-Palestinian accord of 1993. Here extensive treatment is given to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. The major themes are those of competing and conflicting nationalisms, Palestinian Arab and Zionist/Israeli; conflicting states, Arab and Israel; and the role of outside powers in affecting developments in the region.

Booknews

The intense emotions generally aroused by this conflict are avoided here in a remarkably even-handed analysis, ideal for undergraduates as well as the lay reader, and now supplemented with photos, original documents for each chapter, and updated to include the second Oslo Accord of 1995 and talks through the year 2000. Smith (Middle East history, U. of Arizona) holds that a better understanding of the conflict is achieved when its historical background is known. To this end, the text provides an overview of Palestine's earliest history, then devotes chapters to Ottoman society, the origins of Zionism, WWI and the peace settlements that followed, the British Mandate, WWII and the creation of the state of Israel. The remaining half of the book details the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflict. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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Average Rating: Customer Rating for this product is 5 out of 5
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Customer Rating for this product is 5 out of 5 Excellent account of Palestine/Israel conflict
Will Podmore (willp@bso.ac.uk) , A reviewer, 07/12/2004

This is a remarkably judicious and comprehensive account of Palestinian-Israeli relations in the 20th century. Its chapters cover: the Middle East and Palestine to 1914; Ottoman society, Palestine, and the origins of Zionism, 1800-1914; World War One, Great Britain, and the peace settlements, 1914-21; Palestine between the wars: Zionism, the Palestinian Arabs, and the British mandate, 1920-39; World War Two and the creation of Israel, 1939-48; the beginning of the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1949-57; from Suez to the 1967 war, 1957-67; war and the search for peace, 1967-76; Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Camp David Accords, 1977-84; from pariah to partner: the PLO and the quest for peace, 1984-93; and finally, Israeli-Palestinian/Arab negotiations and agreements, August 1993-March 2000. Key facts, of contemporary relevance, emerge from the narrative: Ben Gurion’s aggressive approach was self-defeating - the Gaza raid of 1955 and the invasion of Suez in 1956 both made Israel less secure. The joint British-French-Israeli attack on Egypt, against the will of the United Nations, was a political fiasco. In 1967, the US government encouraged Israel to attack Egypt again, at the same time advising Egypt to hold back until a diplomatic resolution was reached! The first, key, Oslo agreement of 1993 was achieved without US participation, showing that the US is more a hindrance than a help to winning peace. The Netanyahu government of 1996-99, like the present Sharon government, refused to carry out the agreements of Oslo 1, Oslo 2, the Hebron Protocol of 1997 and the Wye Memorandum of 1998. At Wye, Israel agreed not to ‘initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip’. As Smith notes, this was ‘a proviso that Israel had consistently ignored and would ignore in the future’. The Palestinians have long recognised Israel’s right ‘to exist in peace and security’, but Israeli governments have consistently refused to reciprocate. Yet the majority of both peoples want peace, and recognise each other’s right ‘to exist in peace and security’. Both peoples must ensure that their leaders act on this understanding.

Also recommended: Orientalism, by Edward Said