Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine [Paperback]

Samuel Katz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Steimatzky/Shapolsky; Updated edition (January 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0933503032
• ISBN-13: 978-0933503038
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,152,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old But Accurate, December 21, 2000

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine (Paperback)

This, like the work of Joan Peters, is a magnificent piece of reporting on the real history of the Middle East conflict. But in the 27 years since it was published, that past has grown ever more faded in public and journalistic memory.

Supporting Israel and the facts is now so politically incorrect that a prominent newspaper website recently deleted a posting stating this important background: In 1922 the League of Nations adopted by international vote a plan to establish a Jewish National Home in Palestine, which then included all of current day Israel and Transjordan. Shortly thereafter, Britain unilaterally and illegally granted more than 80% of that original Palestine to the Arabs, creating current day Jordan. And now, Israel is blamed for the plight of "refugees" that the Arab nations have exploited to the max in their 52-year war against the Jewish state.

Of many important pieces of the historical puzzle, the best is this: In 1919, less than two years after the Balfour Declaration, Emir Faisal of Syria and Iraq--then the only recognized Arab leader in the world--declared the plan "moderate and proper." One result was the 1922 League of Nations vote to adopt the plan.

King Faisal's approval of plans for a National Home for the Jews was no less significant because it encompassed all of current day Israel and all of current day Jordan. In 1919, there were very few Arabs and many Jews in Palestine, and King Faisal saw the importance of recognizing the rights of the Jewish people to their homeland.

Unfortunately, most Arab nations--from which most "Palestinians" actually immigrated--never recognized even the considerably reduced version of the Jewish state and still prefer a permanent state of war rather than admit Jews the right to their state governing places in which tens of thousands of Jews resided even after the Romans sacked the second Temple in 70 A.D. And why should they? Thanks to a largely uninformed press corps, they are winning a propaganda war that has all but wiped out the past, substituting instead a Kafkaesque fantasy.

The publishers should RUSH this book back into print! Alyssa A. Lappen

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Battleground: fact and fantasy in Palestine, August 29, 2000

By 

Ronen Shnidman (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine (Hardcover)

Samuel Katz is one of the few in the media who tells the truth about the Israeli/Arab conflict in Israel. He provides astounding facts about the British invovlement against the Jews in Palestine and the truth behind the Arab propaganda machine and the real beginning of the "refugee" problem. This book is a must if you want to learn what happened in Palestine and the real problems between Israel and not only its neighbors, but also its relations with the world community. This book deserves two thumbs up.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best non-fiction work on the subject, October 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine (Paperback)

Samuel Katz has written one of the most crucial compilations of the historical facts surrounding all of the issues relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No-one can speak with authority on the issue without heeding to the eye opening facts revealed by Ktaz' extraordinary research and compelling penmanship.