Palestine: A Personal History [Hardcover]

Karl Sabbagh (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 366 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Books (March 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843543443
• ISBN-13: 978-1843543442
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,944,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts a Personal Face on Ordinary Palestinians, August 14, 2007

By 

S. Bennett (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palestine: A Personal History (Hardcover)

Too often, images of Palestinians in the West are dominated by suicide bombings and terrorist groups, and their cause is not presented in a way that could lead any person to sympathize with it. This book tells the story of the Palestinians you don't see on TV-the ordinary men, women, and children who were robbed of their land by an alien group whose ancestors had been gone from that land for 2000 years. Sabbagh refutes some commonly held-but very inacurate-beliefs, such as the idea that the name "Palestine" is a 20th century invention, and the idea that Palestine was uninhabited before the Israelis came-indeed, he tells the stories of the Arabs-including his own ancestors-who lived on the land for hundreds of years before Zionism was thought up. The history moves into the 20th century, relating the stories of Sabbagh's ancestors along with a history of British control of Palestine that reveals the injustice of the Zionist idea, and its proponents to be fanatical ideologues willing to use any means-even terrorism-to advance their ideas at the expense of the Palestinian population. The book culminates with the creation of Israel and the deportations conducted by the new state to rid its territory of Arabs, a tragedy described in mornfull detail by Sabbagh. Read this book-your view of the Arab-Israeli conflict will never be the same.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There was once a country called Palestine, January 30, 2009

By 

Dr. S. Hassan (Birmingham, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palestine: A Personal History (Hardcover)

This is a very good account. It is also a good reflection of the Zionist movement. This is a movement that is even opposed by some well-meaning jews. In essence, it is nothing but a terrorist movement that managed to find itself a state (Israel) on the ruins and misery of another; through cunning deceipt of the world, and complicity from some western nations. This state that prides itself on being the only democracy in the region allows itself to starve and bombard women and children under the guise of protecting its citizens; and not only that, it even wants them to stop defending themselves against the transgressor and to also stop digging tunnels to fetch essentials from a neighbouring country. The fascinating thing is that the world is watching in denial and when pressed they just passively agree with the war mongers.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn how Palestine was seized, April 14, 2009

By 

S. A. I. Eesa "Land of Palestine" (Gaza, Palestine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palestine: A Personal History (Hardcover)

This publication is such a great read. Simply because it is very factual and well-referenced. It represents the truth of what had happened to Palestine up till the Nakba of 1948. And as much as it is serious and non-fiction, it can move the reader into an emotional status of connection with the events. This is a good book if you want to learn about the Zionist consipracy and their collaborators' weaved against the Palestinians and how Palestine was seized.

Give it a shot.