Jerusalem 1913: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict [Paperback]

Amy Dockser Marcus (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 25, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0143113283 | ISBN-13: 978-0143113287 | Edition: Reprint

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter examines the true history of the discord between Israel and Palestine with surprising results

Though the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict have traditionally been traced to the British Mandate (1920-1948) that ended with the creation of the Israeli state, a new generation of scholars has taken the investigation further back, to the Ottoman period. The first popular account of this key era, Jerusalem 1913 shows us a cosmopolitan city whose religious tolerance crumbled before the onset of Z ionism and its corresponding nationalism on both sides-a conflict that could have been resolved were it not for the onset of World War I. With extraordinary skill, Amy Dockser Marcus rewrites the story of one of the world's most indelible divides.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Ottoman Jerusalem, families of different religions picnicked together at popular shrines and vouched for each other at the bank; Muslims and Jews were business partners and neighbors; and Arab children dressed in costumes for the Jewish holiday of Purim. How then did this city of ethnic diversity become a crucible of sectarian conflict? Marcus (The View from Nebo), a Pulitzer-winning former Wall Street Journal correspondent, focuses on the year 1913 as a turning point, when leaders at the Zionist Congress argued for both cultural and demographic domination of Palestine, while at the same time Jews and Arabs were negotiating a possible peace. Marcus also highlights three men who helped shape the destiny of the future Israeli capital. Albert Antebi was a non-Zionist Syrian Jew who advocated for Jewish economic solvency and strong relationships with Muslims; ardent Zionist Arthur Ruppin directed the establishment of Jewish settlements; and Ruhi Khalidi, a prominent Muslim , although not an Arab nationalist, actively opposed Jewish immigration and land purchases. Marcus masterfully brings a Jerusalem of almost a century ago to pungent life, and her political dissection of the era is lucid and well-meaning although she never explains the gulf between moderate Muslims of 1913 and today's Islamist and radical movements. (Apr. 23)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Searching for the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict, veteran Middle East correspondent Marcus highlights 1913 as a year when neighborly relations in Jerusalem took a serious turn for the worse. That was the year of the eleventh Zionist congress in Vienna, at which strategies for purchasing land in Palestine transformed into a massive international fund-raising effort and a muscular Jewish nationalism; it was the year Ottoman parliamentarian Ruhi Khalidi wrote Zionism or the Zionist Question, which anticipated nationalistic strife and urged Arabs to hold onto their land. That was also the year a dispute over stolen grapes descended into armed conflict in Rehovot, a Jewish settlement near Jaffa. Although touted as a challenge to the conventional historical narrative of the conflict, which tends to focus on the British Mandate of 1920-48, Marcus' book is ultimately more concerned with bringing to life Khalidi and other key personalities and reminding us that there was a time in this century when shared traditions and communal space trumped ideological partisanship in Jerusalem. Both tasks are done with the same perceptive analysis and graceful prose that won her a Pulitzer in 2005 for her reportage on cancer survivors. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143113283
• ISBN-13: 978-0143113287
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > History > Middle East > Palestine
  • #72 in Books > History > Middle East > Israel

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting new narrative May 8, 2007

By Seth J. Frantzman HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

This book examines a number of scenes and characters from the era 1898-1914 in Jerusalem and presents the argument that the roots of the present Israeli-Arab conflict or Jewish-Palestinian conflict is encapsulated in missed opportunities and rising nationalism that coalesced in 1913. It was this year when a number of interesting characters were in Jerusalem, including Albert Ente, Theodore Herzl, Arthur Ruppin and Ruhi Khalidi. The thesis of the book claims the Zionist congress in Vienna which debated the question of Jewish demographic changes and land purchases led to Arab nationalism and Khalidi's interest in Zionism educated the Arabs to awake to the rising danger. This is an interesting argument but also problematic.

The Jewish population of Palestine was tiny, comparable to the Muslim population of Sweden in 2006, or smaller. That Khalidi was far-sighted may be true, it might also be true that he was alarmist and intolerant of new immigrants and thus helped fan the flames of nationalism. It is a circle, more nationalism and riots by Arabs caused more Jewish self-awareness that a peaceful pact might not be found.

The strength in this book therefore is not the argument, but the well written descriptions of the characters and their backgrounds and the very fair and interesting examination of how Jerusalem felt in this period. Free from propaganda and arrogant high-falutent accusations, this book is a wonderful and quick read, enjoyable and informative.

Seth J. Frantzman

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars important work May 13, 2007

By Leora Skolkin-Smith

Format:Hardcover

In simple and deeply-felt language and details, this book, (unlike so many which purport to explore Arab/Jewish relations) asks us to go back and examine what happened in the context of history. It serves to fill a void left by so much polemics and political absoluteness concerning the crisis in Israel/Palestine and thereby transcends what have become mere cliches and easy answers to the current conflict. Accurately and full of her own personal passion for the embattled city of Jerusalem, Ms. Marcus documents early friendships between the early Jewish and Arab neighbors in old Palestine. She creates a longing for this vanished world and at the same time poses an important and largely forgotten truth: before politics divided this region, friendships, trade, and mutual respect were a natural part of Arab and Jewish life together, as neighbors, as sharers of land. Sadly, these truths are buried. Why not, in the interest of resolving and uncovering the real origins of the current conflicts, bring them back into luminous light? This beautiful book does just that, and more. It reveals the serendipitous nature of history itself, restores ambiguity and historical context to the debate.

-Leora Skolkin-Smith

Author, "Edges, O Israel,O Palestine"

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An important contribution to understanding the Israel/Palestine conflict July 12, 2007

By Caren Susan Vanslyke

Format:Hardcover

Marcus makes a major contribution to understanding this conflict by going back -- before the founding of the state of Israel, before the British Mandate -- to the period when the Ottoman Empire was dissolving and both Zionism and Arab nationalism were taking root.

Her writing is not polemical --- but investigative --- trying to understand the context and motives of major players in these movements. Using a narrative format and focusing on several key players - Jewish, Palestinian, and Ottoman --- she rises above the usual two-dimensional portrayal of the origins of the conflict.

By acknowledging multiple narratives -- hopefully she will get readers to get out of their "boxes" so that they can understand that other viewpoints are based on their experiences and not just some vaguely defined hatred. As a matter of fact, her stories about both the positive and negative daily interactions between Jews, Christians, and Muslims were some of the most interesting parts of the book.

An important read for anyone interested in this topic.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The year it took a turn towards intractable conflict May 16, 2007

By Shalom Freedman HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

This book is an effort to provide a fresh perspective on the origins of the conflict between Jews and Arabs in the Holy Land. Marcus sees the year 1913 as critical in the process. It was the year the Zionist Congress in Vienna adopted a program calling for increased settlement with the aim of becoming a majority in Palestine. It was also the year the Arab-Syrian Congress meeting in Paris determined to strongly oppose the Jewish settlement efforts. A year before the First World War , and the time when conversations between the two sides failed to bring any real agreement between them.
Marcus however is interested in more than just pinpointing the origins of the conflict. She attempts to give a picture of a time before the First World War when relations between Jews and Arabs were more openly friendly than they would be later. She does this in part by telling the respective stories of three different figures, Albert Antebi a Damascaus born Jew and educator who held strongly to his identity as citizen of the Ottoman Empire, Rui Khalidi scion of an established Arab family who studied Zionist texts and intentions in order to know how to oppose them, and Arthur Ruppin the German born Jew responsible for purchasing land and building the Jewish infrastructure. These three men who knew and respected if not especially liking each other are portrayed with sympathy.
She almost wonders aloud whether it all might not have worked out differently had the Young Turks not come to power in 1908 and cut off the option of a broader kind of Ottoman identity which Jews and Arabs each might have aspired to....
The work is written in a somewhat nostalgic affectionate and longing tone- perhaps out of the author's search for a model of being which might transform the bitter conflict into something more palatable for both sides.
I am not sure however ( I don't think she is either) that her hope of a more idyllic future era modeled on the past, makes much sense. For the Arab opposition and naysaying was there from the beginning. In this sense 1913 is not really a turning point but rather a continuation of the same with greater intensity. The subsequent years would again and again see the situation of the Jews offering peace and compromise, and the Arabs refusing this.
But the kind of claim I have just made is out of keeping with Marcus' book. She is not looking to blame, but rather to understand and provide hopeful directions for correction.
And there is something admirable in her searching for a time when Jews and Arabs were in friendly relations. And in her hoping that there will come a time when this friendliness will be restored, and even augmented. Read more ›