Customer Reviews

The Arab-Israeli Dilemma (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)

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A well-written book, and well documented. No matter what your view of the Arab-Israeli conflict, this book balances against the 99% of books that take a pro-Israel slant. I especially appreciated Khouri's calm, objective manner of discussing the issues.

Is this book outdated? Heck no! What I think is interesting is that history basically never changes in the Middle East. This book is essential for any scholar of the area.

I picked up this book looking for a solid and comprehensive overview of the historical context for current tensions between Israel and the Arab nations. In fact, the back cover has several quotes from reputable sources suggesting the value of this 'balanced' overview to diplomats, historians and students of the middle-east.
It became clear, however, just two chapters in (covering pre-1945 history), that this wasn't an 'objective' account by an unbiased historian. In addition to the many citations to contemporaneous information sources (many from UN accounts), there are numerous general and unsubstantiated references throughout the book to the 'extensive Zionist financial and political influence' supposedly contributing to the creation of the state of Israel. This premise draws heavily on the repeatedly discredited 19th century Russian publication entitled "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which continues to be published today in dozens of languages throughout every region in the world. In addition, Zionist military actions are repeatedly characterized as "terrorist" activity while the opposing Arab and Palestinian military actions are downplayed and rarely characterized as anything unjustified.
The book offers a very detailed view of the events related to the establishment of Israel, but is seriously flawed by its author's heavy anti-Israeli bias.
For a very accurate and highly readable book on the subject, I recommend instead Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israel Conflict (published by the Near East Report)

I picked up this book looking for a solid and comprehensive overview of the historical context for current tensions between Israel and the Arab nations. In fact, the back cover has several quotes from reputable sources suggesting the value of this 'balanced' overview to diplomats, historians and students of the middle-east.
It became clear, however, just two chapters in (covering pre-1945 history), that this wasn't an 'objective' account by an unbiased historian. In addition to the many citations to contemporaneous information sources (many from UN accounts), there are numerous general and unsubstantiated references throughout the book to the 'extensive Zionist financial and political influence' supposedly contributing to the creation of the state of Israel. This premise draws heavily on the repeatedly discredited 19th century Russian publication entitled "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which continues to be published today in dozens of languages throughout every region in the world. In addition, Zionist military actions are repeatedly characterized as "terrorist" activity while the opposing Arab and Palestinian military actions are downplayed and rarely characterized as anything unjustified.
The book offers a very detailed view of the events related to the establishment of Israel, but is seriously flawed by its author's heavy anti-Israeli bias.
For a very accurate and highly readable book on the subject, I recommend instead Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israel Conflict (published by the Near East Report)

I picked up this book looking for a solid and comprehensive overview of the historical context for current tensions between Israel and the Arab nations. In fact, the back cover has several quotes from reputable sources suggesting the value of this 'balanced' overview to diplomats, historians and students of the middle-east.
It became clear,however, just two chapters in (covering pre-1945 history), that this wasn't an 'objective' account by an unbiased historian. In addition to the many citations to contemporaneous information sources (many from UN accounts), there are numerous general and unsubstantiated references throughout the book to the 'extensive zionist financial and political influence' supposedly contributing to the creation of the state of Israel. This premise draws heavily on the repeatedly discredited 19th century Russian publication entitled "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which continues to be published today in dozens of languages throughout every region in the world. In addition, Zionist military actions are repeatedly characterized as "terrorist" activity while the opposing Arab and Palestinian military actions are downplayed and rarely characterized as anything unjustified.
The book offers a very detailed view of the events related to the establishment of Israel, but is seriously flawed by its author's heavy anti-Israeli bias.
For a very accurate and highly readable book on the subject, I recommend instead Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israel Conflict (published by the Near East Report)

I picked up this book looking for a solid and comprehensive overview of the historical context for current tensions between Israel and the Arab nations. In fact, the back cover has several quotes from reputable sources suggesting the value of this 'balanced' overview to diplomats, historians and students of the middle-east.
It became clear, however, just two chapters in (covering pre-1945 history), that this wasn't an 'objective' account by an unbiased historian. In addition to the many citations to contemporaneous information sources (many from UN accounts), there are numerous general and unsubstantiated references throughout the book to the 'extensive Zionist financial and political influence' supposedly contributing to the creation of the state of Israel. This premise draws heavily on the repeatedly discredited 19th century Russian publication entitled "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which continues to be published today in dozens of languages throughout every region in the world. In addition, Zionist military actions are repeatedly characterized as "terrorist" activity while the opposing Arab and Palestinian military actions are downplayed and rarely characterized as anything unjustified.
The book offers a very detailed view of the events related to the establishment of Israel, but is seriously flawed by its author's heavy anti-Israeli bias.
For a very accurate and highly readable book on the subject, I recommend instead Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israel Conflict (published by the Near East Report)

The book presents a historical and political account of the middle east from 1922-1984. The book was originally written in 1968, then revised in 1976 and 1985. During the process of revision, Khouri, appearantly, did not make many changes in the original text, a fact that leaves much of the book outdated. Khouri's account takes a strong anti Israeli and pro Arab stance. For example, he chooses to downplay the Palestinian terrorist attacks during the 1970s and mentions such attacks as the attack on the Israeli athletes in Munich and the attack of the Marine base in Beirut with no detail. His study is based very closely on UN records and ignores the reality of the Middle East.