Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of the Palestinians (Facts on File Library of World History)

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This Encyclopedia in one volume brings together a wealth of unbiased information about Palestine & Palestinians. It walks you through a snapshot of Palestine past & current events. I gained valuable information about past & current leadership within the Palestinian community. For example, briefly it gives you a snapshot about Palestinian families & their well known family members (i.e. Husayni, Nashashibi, Abdil Hadi, Khalidi, Nsabih,..etc. families). Beside that the book also gave me a deep insight into the past & present political parties, their leadership, statistical data (population, immigration, water sources, ..etc) before & after the catastrophe, Israeli settlement, ..Etc. Although the book contained very good maps, it lacks pictures of its subjects & events. An Arabic & Hebrew version of this book is a must. Good Job

There is much more detail that should be included. Four examples:

1 - The first 20 years of the region's decoupling from Turkey is inadequately discussed;

2 - Faisel Husseini, the man T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) chose as his key to launching the WWI revolt) was assisted in escaping the Turks by Lebanese-born Rafiq Habib Gabour, the 20-year-old consul on behalf of Persia to Turkey;

3 - Rafiq Habib Gabour dedicated his life to evicting Britain from Egypt and from Palestine, yet is not mentioned in the book;

4 - Working-class Jews and Arabs of the region worked together to improve their working conditions, wages, and political freedoms. Yet, not one line to this effect is uttered. This is key, for those in power and those with a financial stake in the area may possibly have driven a wedge between the two groups for which the entire world is now paying a stiff price!

The organization also could be much improved. Trying to find information on particular people, such as Faisel, or his brother Abdullah, or their father King Hussein of the Hegaz, is a bit of a meandering trail.

Despite these shortcomings, this book is quite useful and remarkably free of bias that leads any reader into a particular judgement. It is a must for anyone wishing to gain a fair insight to Palestine and Israel.

I highly recommend the book to any individual wishing to gain an insight into the development of the region and the seeds of the current strife. Supporters of Israel will find the book helpful, just as will supporters of the Palestinians. Few other books about the people of the region can boast such a claim.