Customer Reviews

Aaronsohn's Maps: The Untold Story of the Man Who Might Have Created Peace in the Middle East

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Aaronson's Maps" is a misleading and confusing book. It claims to be a biography of an unsung hero of the Zionist revolution in the Land of Israel - Aaron Aaronsohn. A brilliant and versatile man, he won worldwide fame as a discoverer of wild wheat. During WWI, convinced that the British victory over the Turkish army was vital for the Jewish future in Palestine, Aaronsohn organized the NILI group, a spy ring which provided the British army with important information facilitating British victory over the Turks. In 1919 Aaronson joined the Zionist delegation to the Paris Peace Conference where the case for Jewish independence in Palestine was presented to "The Big Four". He died in a plane crash on his way to Paris to present maps of the future Jewish state. His arguments, used by the Zionist delegation, convinced the world that Palestine had enough water resources to sustain large Jewish and Arabs communities. Unfortunately, "Aaronsohn's maps" fails the memory of Aaronsohn and lets down many in Israel who sincerely cooperated with Patricia Goldstone providing her with documents about Aaronsohn and the NILI group. The author, not being a professional historian, displays a cavalier attitude toward historical facts. She reshuffles them with dexterity of a gossip columnist ill-prepared to deal with complex historical situations. The heroic image of Aaronsohn is besmirched by unfounded conclusions. His dreams and ideas of the Jewish revival in the Land of Israel are corrupted by insinuations of Zionist intrigues which allegedly precipitated WWI in Europe and, later, the intervention of the USA in that war. Goldstone fails to present her main claim that Aaronsohn is "a man who might have created peace in the Middle East". Instead she is rehashing the current events in the Middle East trying to prove that the wars between Arabs and Jews are about sharing water resources, not about the attempts of Islam to eliminate the state of Israel. The reader who is interested in an intellectually honest book on Aaronsohn and his times should read "Lawrence and Aaronsohn" - a compelling account written by professional historian Ronald Florence.

I had previously read three other books related to the Aaronsohn story so I expected to be on familiar territory when I picked up this book.

The very beginning held great promises - I actually felt it would be a 5 star book. Unfortunately, as I read on, my initial impression gave way to bafflement, and after finishing this book, I was more willing to give it a half star...

Presented as a serious work of research, it is actually more of a sensationalist collection of unsubstantiated claims, theories that don't add up and, overall, a most confusing text.

Threads are started to be abandonned without conclusions, theories are built based on muddled logic, unsubstantiated claims are presented as facts, while in some cases Goldstone simply seems to contradict herself. (For instance, she seems to question that the Armenian massacre ever happened, then towards the end of the book seems to accept it as a fact.)

Even the title of the book is misleading - the author only devotes a few pages towards the end to Aaron's proposed maps for Palestine, spending more time trying to prove - inconclusively - that Sarah was Lawrence of Arabia's one and true love.

I have never read a book with so many factual errors, which is surprising as Goldstone has clearly done a lot of research. However, it seems that some of it was shoddy, while in other cases she got confused, and yet in other cases she decided to reinterpret the facts to fit her conclusions.


Here are some of the errors I have found which show a lack of historical and cultural knowledge on her subject:

- p 74: Aaron Aaronsohn is described as "first Sabra" ("Aaron, by now too accustomed to his leading role as first sabra" - however he was born in Romania. By definition, a Sabra meanse a native-born Israeli Jew

- p 84, Goldstone makes the opposite mistake: "Absalom Feinberg was a biluim, one of an early group of Russian Marxists who emigrated in the Second Aliyah and set up an agricultural colony at Gadera"

However, Avshalom Feinberg was not a "biluim" - his parents were. He was actually a sabra, having been born in Gedera in 1889 - He is considered by many to have been the first sabra.

Also, It's Gedera or Gederah, not Gadera - Goldstone probably confused it with Hadera, another Israeli town

- p 90: "Hashomer was one of the building blocks of Irgun"
Hashomer, a Socialist Zionist self-defense organisation, ceased to operate in 1920, whereas Irgun, a right wing group which resorted to terrorism, was founded in 1931.

- p.195: Goldstone confuses "Moshava" and "Moshav" - calling Moshava a farming cooperative.
A simple wikipedia search would have showed her that moshava and moshav are two very different things: a moshav is indeed a farming cooperative, however a moshava is simply a small settlement, a small village - where all the land and property are privately-owned.

- p12: "Aliyah" is translated as the equivallent of the Arabic "haj" - pilgrimage. Aliyah really means "ascension" - coming up to the torah in the synagogue, and by extension to immigrate to Zion.


A baffling decision by Patricia Goldstone was to change two Jewish names to make them sound Arabic: Sarah's last lover, Yoseph Lishtanksy, is now called "Yussuf Lishtansky", while Haim Abraham, Sarah's husband - who was also the brother of my grandfather - has his last name changed to the more Arabic-sounding Haim "Abrahim".

(Harcourt: did this book even get edited? Wouldn't anyone seeing "Yussuf Lishtansky" find that combination quite improbable? Can the author justify this affectation?)

The author also gets the caption wrong for the photo of the Aaronsohn family which has been used in every single Aaronsohn-related book: Sarah's husband, Haim Abraham, is confused with one of her brothers, Tzvi Aaronsohn. This type of error will probably bother few readers, however I couldn't help but wonder how such errors were possible from someone who clearly had access to the Aaronsohn archives in Zichron, where this photo is blown up on the main wall.

Basically a confusing mess with way too many errors to be read for anything more than amateurish ramblings.

Readers interested in the Aaronsohn story should read instead "The Aaronsohn Saga" by Shmuel Katz or "Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T. E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn, and the Seeds of the Arab-Israeli Conflict" by Ronald Florence

Avoid.

Unfortunately, I must agree with F. Brauer that this book is a sad disappointment. The title attracted me, as I wanted to learn more of Aaron Aaronsohn, without whom the British and their allies could never have prevailed in World War I. He and his sister Sarah (another key figure in this war) believed British victory in their fight against the Ottoman Empire was critical for the Jewish people in Israel, or what was then known by the ancient Roman name of Palestine. The Aaronsohns based their opinion in large measure on gross Ottoman mistreatment of the Jewish and Armenian populations prior to and during World War I, when thousands were deported and starved, as recorded by David Fromkin and Samuel Katz, among others.

Aaron formed a group of spies (NILI) to give the British army data critical to their war effort, and following their victory, in 1919 was scheduled to attend the Paris Peace Conference with the Zionist delegation to help present the Jewish case for Jewish independence in Palestine to Britain, France, Italy and the U.S. He died in a flight that crashed en route to Paris, possibly because the pilot was shot by someone in another plane that ALSO crashed, but whose passenger and pilot both survived. Aaronsohn's maps of the proposed state of Israel were also lost, most probably intentionally destroyed.

The Jewish contingent to the Peace Conference successfully leveraged Aaronsohn's central point---that Israel had enough water to support large Jewish and Arab communities---to support a Jewish state. But as previously noted by the above-mentioned reviewer, Patricia Goldstone's account seriously defames Aaronsohn's memory.

While the author provides a bibliography of titles she supposedly consulted to prepare each chapter, the volume contains no footnotes whatsoever, and it's impossible to know which sources she actually used. In many instances, there is no historical record I know of backing her presumptions. She claims, for example, that Aaronsohn wanted the Jewish homeland to extend all the way to the Euphrates, a nonsensical idea commonly employed to defame the Jewish people by rabid anti-Zionists such as the Shi'ite fanatics running Iran's Radio Islam. She furthermore insinuates that the Jewish people in general, and Aaronsohn in particular, somehow instigated World War I, another preposterous notion seriously harbored only by the most hateful of people.

Goldstone also constantly contradicts herself. Aaronsohn wanted the Jewish state to extend northward up to and including the Litani River, and to include the headwaters of the Jordan River, and the Banias. Goldstone implies that this plan could somehow have produced peace, although she does not exactly explain how.

On the other hand, Goldstone goes to great lengths to falsely accuse Israel of trying to steal water from other states, which like Israel ultimately resulted from the same League of Nations and Paris Peace Conference that eventually birthed the Jewish state. After falsely accusing Israel of war-mongering to steal water, moreover, Goldstone blames Israel for creating all the Middle East's current-day problems.

Uum, excuse me? Number one, including the Litani River and Jordan headwaters in the National Homeland for the Jewish people could have created peace, according to Goldstone. Yet Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan resulted from the same flawed process that eventually created Israel. So how does Goldstone conclude that Israel alone is to blame for all current-day problems?

Obviously, Goldstone arrived at these absurd conclusions since she was predisposed against Israel in the first place. Her anti-Israel bias grows ever-more blatant as one reads on. She accuses Israel of launching the 2006 Lebanon war to claim the Litani River. In reality, Hezbollah initiated the war when it breached Israel's northern border and then indiscriminately and heavily bombed civilian areas of northern Israel and Haifa.

In the initial attack, moreover, Hezbollah terrorists killed several Israeli border guards on the Israeli side, and kidnapped two others --- whose corpses, after leading Jerusalem to believe the men were alive --- Hezbollah only years later returned in exchange for 1,000 terrorist prisoners.

Goldstone undeniably proves her anti-Jewish predilection through the sources she considers "reliable." These include anti-Israel propagandist Patrick Seale, the rabidly anti-Israel Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and, Goldstone's piece de resistance, Syrian ambassador Imad Moustapha, who during the 2006 Hezbollah-instigated war (which Hezbollah fought with weapons smuggled from Iran via Syria) appeared nightly on CNN to condemn Israel, with the most blatant anti-Jewish hatred I'd theretofore seen on any news broadcasts. Moreover, Moustapha serially repeated obvious and outrageous lies. None of these are objective, much less trustworthy, sources.

Yet when it comes to Israeli sources, anyone who might explain Israel's genuine defensive motives, Goldstone dismisses as "right wing" nuts. To her, Israel's need for water (no different than the needs of Arab states) somehow constitute "crimes against humanity," while Arab efforts to control water sources, according to her, are not.

Clearly Goldstone has read widely. The book is extremely well written and has much interesting detail. Yet Goldstone cannot bring herself to discard her basic anti-Israel bias long enough to consider actual facts --- including her own point that "In 1878, Palestine had 340,000 inhabitants; in 1915, 722,000, including Arabs attracted by the promise of new regional prosperity."

The Arab population more than doubled in little more than 30 years --- also through immigration --- precisely thanks to the "promise" created by Jewish immigration and development. Since Jewish development created enough prosperity to attract so many Arab immigrants, how exactly do Israel's creation and demand for water constitute a crime against humanity?

Aaronsohn's maps undoubtedly did prove there was enough water in the Middle East to sustain large Jewish and Arab populations, and we can see today that these populations are sustained by that water.

But after pretending that Aaronsohn wanted to claim virtually all of the Middle East, Goldstone intentionally misleads readers, purporting that the Arab conflict with the Jewish people concerns only water.

No, the perennial Arab war against Israel is, first and last, an Islamic jihad to defeat the existence of ANY non-Muslim state, especially a Jewish one, in any land once conquered and ruled by Muslims. The conflict long predated modern Zionism, as is aptly proven by the genuine historical scholarship in books like Bat Ye'or's Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam and The Dhimmi, as well as Dr. Andrew Bostom's Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism and Legacy of Jihad.

I, too, strongly recommend Ronald Florence's Lawrence and Aaronsohn, which details the relationship of T. E. Lawrence with Aaron Aaronsohn and more accurately describes "the Seeds of the Arab-Israeli Conflict."

---Alyssa A. Lappen

Goldstone chronicles the life of Aaron Aaronsohn, who carved careers in science, diplomacy and espionage. Furthermore, Aaronsohn does not conform to the standard "Jewish molds" of his era. His numerous and disparate accomplishments and his unique world perspective make his biographer's task all the more challenging. Goldstone says that some of the information was denied to her as it is still classified - complicating her task.

Goldstone's Aaronsohn was a refugee whose parents moved from Romania to Palestine (which was then under Ottoman rule) when he was six. While he was spiritual, he was not particularly religious. He was more liberal - and certainly more tolerant - than most of his fellow Jews. His vision of Palestine was a Jewish state in which Jews and Arabs co-existed. His Palestine would be a Jewish state with adequate civic and political spaces for other groups. Hence, citizens (Jewish or others) would strive for common secular goals. His vision of a state has striking similarities to the Ottoman model of governance.

As a surveyor, agronomist, and hydrologist, he discovered a new variety of wheat, understood farming and compiled detailed maps of water sources in the Middle East. He then used his knowledge to map the boundaries of Palestine based on geographical realities and economic needs. However representatives of Britain and France, who ultimately drew political boundaries, had other considerations. His political career was less spectacular than his scientific one. His religious views fueled his nationalistic passion, and for this cause he sacrificed his life and more.

One may question Goldstone's version of Aaronsohn's life, its historical importance, and its influence on Israeli-Palestinian politics today. However, Goldstone writes a compelling story and should be credited for writing about a less known (but important) figure like Aaronsohn. In the coming years more about Aaronsohn will enter the public domain as it becomes declassified. As additional historical evidence becomes available, and as other interpretations of Aaronsohn's life appear, a different Aaronsohn may emerge. As there is precious little about him outside the specialized literature, it is hoped that Goldstone's contribution will help spur additional work on Aaronshon and Middle Eastern history.

Armchair Interviews says: Unique look at one important man.

It is rare to have the pleasure of reading a serious work of scholarship which excites the imagination as well as informing the intellect. Patricia Goldstone has done an enormous amount of work in digging out the facts about a little-known figure who in the early part of the 20th century set out to map the water resources of Palestine and neighboring territories. The subtitle of her book: "The untold story of the man who might have created peace in the Middle East" makes her thesis clear: if Aaron Aaronsohn's advice had been accepted the continuing Israeli/Palestinian conflict might have been averted.

In documenting Aaronsohn's life and work Ms. Goldstone has dug deep in archives, which have also revealed the story of Aaronsohn's unbelievably brave sister Sarah, who before her early tragic death after torture at the hands of the Turks, may have been the lover of another much discussed player in the Middle East, T. E. Lawrence.

Without ever over-pressing her case for her new interpretation of their intertwined lives and with scrupulous attention to the surviving documents, Ms Goldstone vividly transports us into a world of spies, betrayals, and heartfelt devotion to a cause that holds our attention, while raising new questions about a much-disputed series of events in Middle East history.

Pearls don't live in shallow waters and this author really dove deep to get the historical story to the surface. It really is a necklace of creative and powerful events... a treasure trove of adventure and political manipulation. Goldstone smartly sets the fiery events up on page two, stating that Aaaronsohn was the product of big events and big changes. And...WHAM!...the adventure begins. "If we fail", Aaronsohn states "we alone shall suffer". And that's exactly what happens...and we are now living with the results. Of course we have the war which exposes all kinds of political foolishness as well as deft triumphs by the power players of the era. I especially enjoyed the fact that Aaronsohn really got Churchills guts in an uproar. I'm sure some of the basic truths are going to really upset a few...but...so what...the truth is often hard to swallow. I guess that's what I really enjoyed the most. See for yourself. When you're finished think about what the middle east might be now if only half of Aaronsohn's work and vision became reality. Adios. Enjoy.