Customer Reviews

The Palestinian Right to Israel

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"The Palestinian Right to Israel" By Alex Grobman (March? 2010), 326 pages. Although 326 pages in length (on medium-size pages, with a little too much spacing between lines), 42% (133 pgs) consists of bibliography and endnotes, leaving barely 189 pages of text! The author very sparingly recounts the usual litany of the plight of Jews living in Palestine Israel/ GreaterSyria/ OttomanEmpire, but very briefly. Instead, the author concentrates on discussing the `misunderstandings' between the British government and several of the Arab princes, as to what territories that the princes thought they were getting in the Greater Syrian area, following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after WWI. The author details the potpourri of confusing, conflicting, and ambiguous statements that were emitted by various British officials as British military and political strategies regarding the Middle East changed during the war. The author provides many comments from T.E. Lawrence, Col. R. Meinertzhagen, Lt.Col. Sterling, Arnold Toynbee, Winston Churchill, Sir A.H. McMahon (Egypt), and others, regarding the lackluster support from the Arabs in combating the Ottomans. Rather than seemingly supporting the "right" of "Arab Palestinians" to control the Palestine area, this book's intent is to show that there never really was an "Arab Palestine", but instead, the area was really a backwater outpost of the Ottoman government, with no local "Palestine State" perception by the inhabitants of the area (and therefore, no claim for an Arab-Palestinian state). The author discusses how translating the Arab word "vilayet" differed between the British and the Arabs. The British viewed a "vilayet" as being a city, where as the Arabs believed the word conveyed a more expansive "region". This led to differences with King Hussein as to which vilayets (cities/regions) of Greater Syria were to be incorporated into Syria, verses those cities which would become a part of Transjordan or the Palestine Mandate. Oh, yes, the French added other "cooks" in stirring this troubling cauldron of various national rivalries. The author discusses the "promises" made by various British officials regarding the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The author recounts the violent Arab reaction to Jewish immigration to the area in the early 1920s, their later riots starting in the mid-1930s, and their support for the anti-Jewish NAZI government of Germany during WWII. The author discusses the birthing of the state of Israel following WWII. To me, a lot of new information regarding the Muslim versus Zionist political disputes of the 1920s and 1930s. However, the author would have been much more forthright had he titled this book: "The Jewish Right to Israel" - as the Palestinians don't get a dissenting opinion in it.

In a clear, consice scholarly way, Grobman has stated the case for israel. For those with little or no knowlege, he has written a clear case for Israel. For those with a lot of background, he has framed the discussion and reviewed what many may have forgotten. A must read for those who approach the subject with an open mind and a desire to hear the case without emotion.

On college campuses across the country there are many people that hold views about the Palestinian right to the entire land of the country that is currently called Israel, and many of these views are dependent on half-truths and misconceptions that have little basis in fact. "The Palestinian Right to Israel" allows the reader to understand the claims surrounding this much sought after land, and does so in a fluent, concise, and very readable fashion. This book helps by clearing up many of the misunderstandings on both sides, in order to clearly define the historical perspective on a state of Palestine. Starting at effectively the beginning of modern human history, and clearly going through many eras since then, "The Right" makes sense of the Gordian Knot that is claim and counter-claim for who should get what in Israel. This book, much clearer than this review, is a must read for anyone who wants to learn about the history and rights of both nations to the state of Israel and the area of Palestine.

This book is must reading for anyone that wishes to have an historical analysis as well as a current view of actual (rather than hypothetical) events. It is must reading for those that believe the aphorism by Ralph Peters: "Those who do not know history will die of myth."

Dr. Grobman has consistently proven to be a copious and exhaustive researcher, and this book is no different, in those terms, than his other works. The Palestinian Right to Israel details the pre-history of the rise of the first democracy in the middle-east and all those opportunities to miss opportunities by the Arabs who lived there. Grobman details the history of British attempts at diplomacy and both stunted Arab cooperation and non-cooperation.

This text should be required reading in any class studying the modern history of the middle-east and a required background for anyone attempting to impose a peace on the area.