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Origins and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

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This fine study of the Arab-Israeli conflict provides an overview of the main issues and events since Zionism and Arab nationalist aspirations began to collide in a Hundred Years War that is far from over. The book reflects on three principal themes: the shifts between ideology and pragmatism by both Arabs and Israelis, internal tensions within both sides over the nature of the conflict and ways to resolve it, and the part that external actors have played in bolstering ideological hard lines or encouraging pragmatic accommodation. In that sense, its theme is the interaction among the Arabs, Israelis, and third parties. With the exception of a weakness in the "external actors" and "third parties" element, as I will make clearer later, the end result is a successful combination of scholarship and exposition that turns this volume from being a university text to something much more. The book examines the Arab-Israeli conflict in a wide-ranging historical overview, and then by topical chapters. The first of the latter considers the growth of Zionism and Palestinian national feeling during British rule in the first half of the century, as the clash between the two peoples intensified. The succeeding sections look separately at the Israelis, Palestinians, and U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict. Finally, the conclusion evaluates the current situation. A short photo essay in the middle of the book adds a small but engaging visual touch, with some fine captions. (An odd weakness of books on this general subject is their lack of photographs, or ­ having included them ­ their utter irrelevance except as emotional gratification. I am particularly reminded of the photos in Rosemary Sayegh's book on the Palestinians in Lebanon, which were uncaptioned and otherwise not directly related to anything else in the same volume.) This book is peppered with verse, quotations from political actors and so on, to help bring immediacy to the questions being examined and a feeling for the ways in which individuals have been buffeted by the conflict. For example, President Sadat's reflections on first going Jerusalem, mercifully not in verse, are included. There are also excerpts from many documents critical to the Arab-Israeli conflict, ranging from the declaration at the Basel founding conference of the World Zionist Organization to the PLO National Covenant, much in the news recently. Biographical sketches and a copious annotated bibliography round off the book. By the end, the reader is impressed and satisfied that he has gone through a comprehensive introduction to the conflict. Unless, that is, the reader happens to be an economist, as I am. Without being churlish, though I found the book excellent, it left me wondering about the gaps in it. Knowing Dan Tschirgi personally and looking at Ann Lesch's CV, it is nevertheless obvious that the authors are both eminently qualified to write on the topic. Ann Lesch is Professor of Political Science at Villanova University. She has published seminal analyses of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including "Arab Politics in Palestine, 1917-1939," "Political Perceptions of the Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza Strip," and "Transition to Palestinian Self-Government," and is co-author of "Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinians." Dan Tschirgi is Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo. He is the author of, among many other works on the region, "The Politics of Indecision: Origins and Implications of US Involvement with the Palestine Problem" and "The American Search for Mideast Peace." The clue was that both are professors of politics; the missing bit for me was thus economic. To twist a famous phrase around, diplomacy seems to be a continuation of economics by other means these days, at least in the Middle East. The recent visit to the region of U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley was proof that his country's diplomatic activity ­ and the Wye accord in particular ­ was partly designed to push American business in the region. Whether or not all of Wye's stipulations survive, it is anyway being used to help U.S. business. Secretary Daley was also explicitly saying that this push into the region was directed against the Europeans, which brings me to the other missing element in this book: Europe. The history of the Arab-Israeli conflict over the past few years can be better understood if you take into account U.S.-European rivalry in the region. And rivalry there is, particularly when it comes to business. Among notable U.S. economic successes have been inroads into Egypt, not to mention the predominant American position in most of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. On the other hand, the EU is still first in Syria and Lebanon, though Secretary Daley tells us that the latter, at least, will soon fall to the U.S. However, in this book the international economic implications of the issue of intra-Western rivalry in the Middle East is not included. Neither does the book include Europe as it appears today in the conflict. On the whole, Europe is not really in the book, after the Suez Debacle of 1956; the landmark Venice Declaration, made by the Europeans close to two decades ago, is not there; and Mr. Moratrinos, he with the thankless job of European envoy to the region, does not feature. Perhaps a future volume not written mainly for the U.S. market will fill these gaps. Meanwhile, for the student and the general reader, this book remains the best introduction that I have yet seen to a complicated subject.

Riad al Khouri The Daily Star

This is an excellent book. It is an updated and extended version of the 1986 'Arab-Israeli Conflict' by Ian J Bickerton and M N Pearson. Valuable for the ongoing student of this subject. Not available for sale in Australia, in libraries only. A pity as valuable learning tool.