Customer Reviews

The Palestine-Israeli Conflict: A Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Beginners' Guides)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a very unusual book in that the first half of the book is written by a Jewish academic giving an account of the events from a Jewish/Israeli perspective, while the second half is written by a Palestinian academic giving an account of the same events but this time from a Palestinian point of view. This is the only fair way to understand the situation objectively. So I highly recommend it.

This book seemed like it would have everything going for it -- one Islamic Studies professor and one Professor of Judaism giving their viewpoints on the history of the Palestine-Israeli conflict.

What a dissapointment! Both Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Dawoud El-Alami give a 75+ page synopsis each of the conflict's history, in dry, confusing and poorly edited prose. Only in the last 15 pages is there any attempt at "debate" and even that was disjointed, with the authors jumping from chapter to chapter with their comments.

I fault the editors - OneWorld Press in Oxford--for the lack of readability. With such erudite authors, why not have a twenty page overview of the historical facts and then have the bulk of the book be a series of questions with both professors offering their viewpoints? That, to me, would have been a fascinating book. Instead, I was counting the pages until this was over. I still think it's a great idea and maybe some other publisher will do it right.

The Palestine-Israeli Conflict
By: Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Dawoud el-Alami

The Palestine-Israeli Conflict is an insightful, original, and well-researched work.
Although it is labeled a "beginner's guide" one must already have at least a basic knowledge of Middle East modern history to fully understand it. From the roots of Zionism in the 1800's to the Intifada of the early 2000's, both writers do a masterful job of tying every cause and effect into an understandable history of the troubled region.

A refreshing characteristic of the book is it's dual point of view format. In an age where nearly every history book is distorted by the writer's viewpoint, it is hard to find a clear perspective. Although Cohn-Sherbok (Professor of Judaism) and el-Alami (a Palestinian native) are no different in their own individual writings. However, since both points of view are presented in the same work, the reader can read both, mix and match different points, and form his or her opinions.

The only aspect of the book is that it tends to become repetitive and never repeats information. The reader must stay attentive to every event in order to understand the next.

This book is a great tool for forming your own opinions about the conflict and learning the details from both points of view. I would recommend it to just about anybody looking to learn more.

This is a fantastic book and is laid out giving a balanced account from both sides of the conflict. I detest hearing one-sided arguments as I always wonder what "the other sides" response would be.
In this book I don't have to wonder. One chapter is devoted to the Israeli cause and the following chapter is devoted to the Palestinian cause. One writer makes a point and the other makes a counter-point. More books should be written in this format.

I've just finished reading this book and thought it gave me a very clear idea of the major issues involved in the conflict. So, I have to disagree with the hostile comments from the reviewer below. I would highly recommend it given the current situation.

With so many books written on the state of Israel artlessly swaying one way or another, it is helpful to finally discover a book that is equally bias. The history of the conflict accounted for by both side`s own point of view; Dan Cohn Sherbok, a professor of Judaism and renown author on Jewish history and Dawoud el-Alami, a Palestinian professor of Islamic Studies. In the end of the book, each author is given a opportunity to debate followed by a response.

Both accounts of the history of the Palestinians and the of the Israelis are easy to read and intrinsically descriptive which underscore the fundamentals of the strife of the two different but similar peoples. Although certain sections do lack consistency and veer off course a bit, the bulk of the book is easy to ingest due to the rather precise chronology and relevancy of the each topic. Seemingly both perspectives seem to be blaming each other in one way or another.

The debate section is perhaps the most thought-provoking part of the book. An interesting observation that you could make is how Mr. Cohn-Sherbok lays out five ingredients for hopes of peace in the region and justifies the State's national security aims in the final chapter while the response from Mr. el-Alami largely focused on questioning Israel's right to exist at all -almost a microcosm of the present situation today.

The purpose of the book is not a persuasion to take one side over another but rather to hear from both sides of the conflict and leave you the reader to draw your own conclusions. This objective is almost obsolete with most publications that discuss the state of Israel and the plight of the Palestinian people today. A very worthy read, which despite being a bit on the bulky side, is a truly unique and noble idea that establishes a balanced perspective from two highly knowledgeable and passionate authors.

As a beginner in Middle Eastern studies, I bought this book for a balanced overview of the conflict. I was disappointed that the book seemed to "start in the middle" with only a passing mention of the diaspora, etc. Certain facts, figures and dates were glossed over w/out further explanation. I didn't even make it through the first section...

The title is erroneous.
Israel is a part of Palestine and refuses to be in conflict with itself. As a matter of fact it made a durable peace with the Eastern Palestinian Kingdom behind the Biblical river of Jordan.
The conflict is between the Arab-speaking people and the Israelized Jews who speak many tongues.
The book contains a wrong map which shows Gaza seeing the withdrawal of Israeli troops in 1957 and 1982.
It also shows Lebanon south of Beirut to be occupied by Israel for 3 years.
It is so sloppy that it even does not mention in its chronology the creation of the Emirate of Transjordan carved by the British from Palestine.
It also contains errors like
"Moshe Dayan drives all Palestinian civilians from Lydda and Ramle by force"
First, at that time Jews and Arabs alike were Palestinian civilians.
Second, Arabs and Jews still live together in Lod and Ramle!