Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories (Middle East Studies) [Paperback]

Mike (Glasgow University Media Group) Berry (Author), Greg Philo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0745325653 | ISBN-13: 978-0745325651 | Edition: Expanded Ed

-- Ideal for anyone approaching the subject for the first time this is the most accurate, accessible and up-to-date account available --Following on from their acclaimed book Bad News from Israel, Greg Philo and Mike Berry present a concise guide to the

Editorial Reviews

Review

Definitely a must for those who want a short introduction to the conflict. ... Even for those who are well versed in the events and issues involved, it is useful to have the whole history in such a short space. -- Jordan Times ... a highly recommendable and much-needed brief introductory reading on the complex Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- Moshe Machover Berry and Philo's book is a key resource. [They have] produced a very readable, coherent amd well-sourced account - giving both the Palestinian and Isreali viewpoints. -- Palestine News

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press; Expanded Ed edition (September 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745325653
• ISBN-13: 978-0745325651
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #992,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good start, August 22, 2007

By 

tim (Berkeley, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories (Middle East Studies) (Paperback)

Those readers who dare not venture into the thicket of controversial rhetoric blanketing the Arab-Israeli Conflict had best start with this slim pamphlet, which serves as thumbnail history of post-Ottoman/post-colonial Middle East, Zionism, and four generations of strife and state creation.

Meanwhile, the authors pause occasionally to note disagreement among their sources, highlighting forks in the socially constructed path of Arab-Israeli history.

This book is best used to help you decide what book you should read next on this difficult but important topic. But if you don't know much about the Arab-Israeli Conflict and have questions about current crises, reading this book alone will provide a quick and valuable lesson, up to but not including the 2006 Summer Lebanon War.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent brief survey of this dangerous conflict, December 1, 2011

By 

William Podmore (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories (Middle East Studies) (Paperback)

This excellent short survey of the Israel/Palestine conflict developed from work done by the Glasgow University Media group for its study of TV news coverage of the conflict. This was first published in 2004 as Bad news from Israel. A new edition, More bad news from Israel, was published in 2011.

The authors look at the history of the conflict, from the origins of Zionism, to the Balfour Declaration, the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49, the Suez conflict of 1956, the wars of 1967, 1973 and 1982, the two Intifadas, up to the Sharon government.

Article 11 of the Keren ha-Yesod employment agreements read, "the settler undertakes ... not to hire any outside labour except Jewish labourers."

In 1948 Ben Gurion ordered Jewish forces to "safeguard the entire Yishuv [Jewish community in Palestine] and settlements (wherever they may be), to conquer the whole country or most of it ..."

Menachem Begin said of the 1967 war, "The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."

In the 1967-70 War of Attrition, 1.5 million Egyptians were forced from their homes; 367 Israeli soldiers and 10,000 Egyptian soldiers and civilians were killed. Between 1967 and 1982, Palestinian guerrillas operating out of Lebanon killed 106 Israeli civilians; Israeli forces killed 3,500 Lebanese civilians and 7,000 Palestinians.

The Palestinians accepted UN resolutions 242 and 338 and the principle of `land for peace'. Israel rejected them. Israeli governments always want more land, not peace.

On 23 September 1997, Hamas sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposing talks to end the violence and `discussion of all matters'. Two days later Netanyahu ordered the killing of the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, thus wrecking any chance of peace talks.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled by 14-1 that Israel must dismantle the separation wall because it violated international law.

In 2000, Ariel Sharon said, "the new historians should not be taught." In 2001 Sharon's Education Minister ordered new history textbooks for Israel's secondary schools, removing all trace of the influence of the new historians.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great intro, September 17, 2007

By 

Stuart Matthews (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories (Middle East Studies) (Paperback)

I was having a hard time putting this book down. It is a really good intro; I came in not knowing anything about the subject really.

My main complaint is that the maps are severely lacking.