Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations [Hardcover]

Avi Shlaim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1844673669 | ISBN-13: 978-1844673667 | Edition: First Edition

Reflections on the causes and consequences of the Israel-Palestine conflict, by the author of The Iron Wall.

Avi Shlaim, one of the world's foremost experts on the Israel–Palestine conflict,  reflects with characteristic rigour and readability on a range of key issues and personalities. From the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the failure of the Oslo peace process, from the 1948 War to the 2008 invasion of Gaza, Israel and Palestine places current events in their proper historical perspective. It assesses the impact of key political and intellectual figures, including Yasir Arafat and Ariel Sharon, Edward Said and Benny Morris. It also re-examines the United States’ influential role in the conflict, and explores the many missed opportunities for peace and progress in the region.

Clear-eyed and meticulous, Israel and Palestine is an essential tool for understanding the fractured history and future prospects of Israel-Palestine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shlaim (Lion of Jordan), an Israeli army veteran and international relations professor at Oxford University, offers a penetrating critique of Zionism in these reviews and essays collected from the last 30 years. He focuses on the three main watersheds—Israel's establishment, the Six Day War of 1967 and the Oslo Accords of 1993 and offers valuable commentary on current scholarship—saving his sharpest criticism for Benny Morris, a former colleague in Israel's school of new historians, a group who made their name by refuting early historical accounts of Israel's creation and the displacement of Palestinians. But while he illuminates unfamiliar corners and characters in the Arab-Israeli impasse, such as a Syrian dictator who briefly pursued peace before getting swept from power and executed, Shlaim too often lets his politics seep into his work, omitting important details that should shape the debate: he describes Professor Norman Finkelstein as merely a well-known critic of Israel, ignoring Finkelstein's rather incendiary comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany. Shlaim's book is an important one, but some readers might think that he gives short-shrift to the Israeli side of this divisive debate. (Oct.)
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Review

“Avi Shlaim is the sort of historian every country needs. An exposer of national myths, the supreme scholar of Arab-Israeli negotiations.” (Philip Mansel - Spectator )

“Not often today do we find historians who are this honest and this bleak and this able—for some reason, I think here of T. S. Eliot’s essays—to express truth so simply.” (Robert Fisk - Independent )

“Provides even the hardened student with some new perspectives.” (The Economist )

“Noted historian Shlaim presents a collection of hard-hitting pieces about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict….Shlaim is an important, sage, reasoned voice on the course of Israeli-Palestinian relations.” (Kirkus Reviews )

“One of the best and most illuminating accounts of Arab-Israeli relations in years.” (Foreign Affairs )

“Fascinating … Shlaim presents compelling evidence for a re-evaluation of traditional Israeli history.” (New York Times Book Review )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Verso; First Edition edition (September 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844673669
• ISBN-13: 978-1844673667
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.4 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars illuminating work on seemingly intractable situation December 5, 2009

By A. Menon

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It goes without saying that the situation of Israel and Palestine is one of the most contentious political, ethnic, social problems that brings out the extremes of emotions for even those with several degrees of separation from the problem. One can notice that from the reviews one encounters on literature for one group or another is praised emphatically by sympathizers and bashed by the opposition, usually irrespective of the content. That being said, moving onto this book, it is an important and illuminating read.

It is important to note that this book intends to be a fairly complete overview of the conflict, its origins and evolution. It focuses on some aspects more than others and is not a complete analysis of any particular point in time (in the sense of discussing opposition and rebuttals and re-rebuttals etc) but the book essentially assumes no prior knowledge. The author starts with the foundations of the formation of Israel, the motivations both from global political perspectives as well as zionist perspective and the local arab perspective. Avi starts out by describing the situation as one in which there were shaky foundations, with English politics being contradictory and eventually leading to a Jewish priority. This shakiness is attributed to foreign powers and their inconsistent approach rather than Israeli subversiveness. It is an important distinction that helps formulate the authors underlying belief which is that the state was founded for a people with from some veil of ignorance the strongest requirement for a sovereign state at the expense of an existing population. In essence, foreign powers had an obligation to the jewish movement, but acted with disregard for the rights of the local population which were subordinated in a choice that the choosers had no right to make. That was the injustice and its foundations are not necessarily the fault of the parties now involved.

The book then follows in chronology discussing the history and in particular the territorial exchanges that accompanied various wars and the politicians and their perspectives and perceived biases. This seems to offend many readers as I'm sure many believe these characters to be quite different from the way described, but the author does not make claims without well documented evidence. The author is very thorough in describing a strategy and subsequently using many examples of its manifestation. It could be argued that it is one sided, but everyone's perspective has a conclusion to draw, and irrespective if that is agreed, the most important thing is the evidence used and this author is thorough in backing up his claims. The momentum of foreign sympathy is focused on and the changing of the global community attitude after the speech delivered in Madrid written by Dr Hanan Ashrawi. The position of the US and its often failure to act as an independent arbitrator depending on the presidency is discussed. The author describes the US position as one that has the tendency to turn to short term politics and US sovereign interests rather than a well balanced intermediary position. This has the repercussions of not providing the needed push at times to pressure the Israeli side. I think this is an important issue that the author addresses, by the nature of the situation Israel is in the position of power, it might be in isolation in the region etc, but at its local bargaining table with the Palestinians, it clearly has more ability to encroach on land, inflict damage etc... The importance of foreign intermediaries to try to balance the existing balance of power is important as a solution that is one crafted out of relative military strength rather than based on more utilitarian or human rights based justice will likely spark future problems. If there is a solution to be had, it is important that it be as close to even handed as possible or it can end up being ineffective if perceived injustice remains status quo. For this reason, he believes the US needs to be firmer when more even handed solutions are being worked on.

The author describes Israeli local politics as often being at play as the ebb and flow of desire for peace. The domination of the right wing he sees as a dangerous evolution as their intention he does not believe to be peace, but essentially divide and conquer. One of the major themes is the discussions of peace are then followed with further settlement in areas that are supposed to be part of Palestinian settlement. For the author, these actions speak louder than words. He sees tit for tat between the sides as grossly overbearing on the Israeli side with its clear advantage, the author evidences this by the casualty rates of many multiples for the Palestinian side vs the Israeli side. The author believes the populations of both people are looking for peace and that there needs to be a formal division of the country to the Green line of 1967. The incrementalist settlement which is occurring undermines the situation and further entrenches both sides.

The authors positions stems from what he perceives as an original injustice that was decided by outside powers. What is done is done from that and what is important now is the well balanced application of human rights and and recognition of the human costs on the sides of the parties rather than the us versus them approach. The author sympathizes much more with the Palestinian side due to their much weaker position and their actions are to be expected given the evolution of the situation. He believes Israel needs to take a step back, recognize the human rights of the Palestinians, and act from that perspective for which he thinks a defining of 1967 borders and division of the country is the appropriate solution. The longer settlers keep moving "borders" the more entrenched people become and given the unevenness of power it is becoming a human rights crisis for Palestine. I would rate this 4.5 stars if I could, the reason for not rating 5 is that there are occasions when the author describes the same person a bit differently, for example, he is very favorable to Edward Said in the chapter on him and his approach, but argues against the same position he flatters later in the book. A few times examples like this emerge. Nonetheless the content of the book is well written, analysis is backed up with many examples and evidence. Whether the solution is the right one who know, but the approach and the perspective is very important to read. If more people had the sympathy of the author the solution would be much less intractable.

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic work from Avi Shlaim November 11, 2009

By Human who wants to learn

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The major theme of Avi Shlaim's previous book, 'The Iron Wall', was that Israel has throughout its history readily resorted to military force rather than engaging in meaningful diplomacy. In Avi's 'Israel and Palestine' he analyzes four portions of history, including (as he calls them) 1948 and beyond, to Oslo and beyond, the breakdown of the peace process, and perspectives. What I found most appealing about this particular text was Avi's discussion and analysis of literature written by scholars, historical figures, as well as popular figures. This includes, but it not limited to, Nur Masalha, Ilan Pappe, Itamar Rabinovich, Benny Morris, Asher Susser, Ian Black, George and Douglas Ball, Fouad Ajami, Hanan Ashrawi, Meron Benvenisti, Colin Shindler, Moshe Arens, Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bernard Wasserstein, Dennis Ross, Yossi Beilin, Norman Finkelstein, Bauch Kimmerling, and Edward Said. If some of these names are not familiar to you, I encourage you to look them up. You will uncover that Shlaim is striving to provide detailed scholarly accounts of each individual and their contributions to the interpretation of history with regard to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. And, as always, Shlaim's use of primary sources is extremely well done.

Please, anyone who wishes to understand the conflict, read and learn. Most people (including myself) are not capable of reading the primary literature. But at least analyze the work of those that dedicate their entire lives to history and scholarship.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine study of the Israel/Palestine conflict December 22, 2009

By William Podmore

Format:Hardcover

Avi Shlaim, professor of international relations at Oxford University, is the author of The iron wall, the best book on Israel's relations with its neighbours. This erudite work is a collection of articles that were originally published in the Journal of Palestine Studies and the London Review of Books.

Part 1 comprises ten articles on the 1948 war and after, Part 2 ten articles on the Oslo Accord of September 1993 and beyond, Part 3 five articles on the breakdown of the peace process, and Part 4 five articles looking at the current situation from various perspectives. He identifies three main watersheds, each the subject of heated debate: the founding of Israel, the 6-Day war of June 1967 and the Oslo Accord.

Israeli governments usually oppose a Palestinian state and a return to its 1967 borders, even though, as Shlaim argues, ending the occupation of the West Bank would enhance Israel's security. The Oslo Accord, negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians, with virtually no US or EU involvement, was a great step forward towards creating a Palestinian state. But tragically Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his successor Ehud Olmert wrecked the Accord, as Shlaim shows.

Shlaim recognises that the Iraq war had `no solid basis in international law' and that the invasion did not help to resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict or promote democracy in the Middle East. You don't end one illegal occupation by starting another.

Shlaim argues that Israel's brutal military occupation of Gaza was `deliberate de-development'. The USA and the EU helped the Israeli state by imposing sanctions on Gaza, not on the occupier but on the occupied. As Shlaim writes, "The development of local industry was actively impeded so as to make it impossible for the Palestinians to end their subordination to Israel and to establish the economic underpinnings essential for real political independence."

In 2005-8, 11 Israelis were killed by rocket fire from Gaza; in 2005-7, the Israeli Defense Force killed 1,290 Palestinians in Gaza, including 222 children. In November 2008, Israel broke the ceasefire which had held for four months. In its 22-day attack on Gaza, 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. Bush and Blair backed the attack and opposed UN calls for a ceasefire.

Shlaim concludes, "A rogue state habitually violates international law, possesses weapons of mass destruction and practises terrorism - the use of violence against civilians for political purposes. Israel fulfils all of these three criteria."