From Publishers Weekly
Palestinians in refugee camps "live on a combination of nostalgia for the past and illusions about the future," writes Israeli journalist Rubinstein. Most Arabs who fled or were expelled from the newly created State of Israel in 1948 regarded their absence as a temporary affair. Even today the refugees' absolute "right of return"--which implies the destruction of Israel--underlines all PLO decisions and statements. This expectation, according to Rubinstein, is fueled by "a genuine sense of displacement" rather than by an Arab myth of loss of homeland cultivated to serve political ends, as some Israeli spokespeople maintain. This short, sensitive exploration of the Palestinian refugees' conceptual world draws liberally on novels, stories, poetry, plays, memoirs and historical studies. Arguing that each side's perception of the other is rooted in prejudice and suspicion, Rubinstein's analysis speaks to moderates on both sides.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
First published in Israel, this account by an Israeli journalist examines the nature of the Palestinian Arabs' culture that forms the backdrop to their homeless plight and strong sense of a "right to return." By failing to appreciate the Palestinians' attachment to what they consider their land, Rubinstein argues that Israelis do not fully grasp the enormity of the moral tone of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Rubinstein goes to the most sensitive chord of the conflict: the inability of either community to appreciate and to accept the values of the other's ideology. This powerful analysis, concisely written, leaves the reader with a better appreciation of the complexity of the situation and perhaps a sense of hopelessness for resolution of the conflict.
- Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba Coll., Salisbury, N.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba Coll., Salisbury, N.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
