Customer Reviews

Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy

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Christison's book on how the Palestinians have virtually been ignored by the United States throughout the Arab-Israeli conflict is a first-rate analysis of American foreign policy at its worst. She details the ways in which each president has been oblivious to the existence of a rich Palestinian culture and history. It is amazing how even the presidents we associate with being supportive of the Palestinian cause (Jimmy Carter) still suffered, to a certain degree, from this cross-cultural ignorance.

Perceptions of Palestine is highly effective in forcing the reader to sit back and reflect on their own views. It made me question to validity and objectivity of the information I receive every day on the middle east. I highly recommend this book as there are not many out there with such a unique and important argument.

A scrupulously honest and well-researched history of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the context of the distorted view held by the U.S. public and its policy makers. In light of the recent terrorist attacks and turmoil in the middle east, this books serves as an anchor and guide to our miscast perceptions of playing the "honest broker" in the Middle East peace process. Fearful of being labeled anti-Semitic, our congressional leaders roll over at the first sign of pressure tactics from AIPAC. In the past the U.S media has served as a policy tool of the Israeli government as it hoodwinks the US public into sending billions to feed the war machine under the ruse of "self-defense. I hope reading this book will bring others around to the realization that we need a "truly" balanced policy in the Middle East which transcends national politics in the US.

This is a very clear treatment of the basic difficulty that has accompanied the Arab-Israeli conflict all the way through--the fixed mindset that gives 'conventional wisdom' free reign, to the point that efforts of diplomats are inhibited, a factor visible in the latest failure, the Oslo Peace process. Thus the notion that Palestinian claims are 'artificially and mischievously inspired' is hard to shake, as is the perception that the only issue in the conflict is an unreasonable Arab refusal to accept Israel's right to exist. The work is a useful guide to the whole history of the conflict, and ends by finding Clinton, so close to a real breakthrough, still caught in all the basic misperceptions.

Since September 11, I have been searching for an understanding of what's going on in the Middle East. I had done no serious study, but I quite recommend this book. While there's some overwriting and repetition, its basic tenet, that the Palestinians have traditionally been seen exclusively through an Israeli lense, is rigorously demonstrated. This book helps explain how invisible palestine and the Palestinians are, how they have no voice, or at least come to us filtered through pop and media culture. Christison understands how difficult it is to be critical of the Israel without appearing anti-semitic. Her sense of the power of Zionism on popular perception and official policy is lucid. You will not be able to read papers or absorb the usual media line after reading this.

This book has sent me to other sources and educated me at a time when i needed it desperately.

To those who call it anti-semitic, Arabs are semitic too, so drop it.. it's getting old. Everytime a book shows the truth about Israeli aggression against Palestinians it is called anti-semitic, untrue, and bias. Go there and see for yourself.

The only way to peace in the Middle East is through peace between Palestinians and Israelis and this book shows a side that no one wants to hear.

For an overall view of exactly what happened, read an excellent first-hand account of a moderate Palestinian.

Excellent source for anyone who would like to learn more & know the other side of the Palestinian / Israeli conflict.

This book gave me a clear idea how in general Westerners (and especially Americans) are biased when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The central concept of this book in my opinion is psychological, the authors proves that Westerns are already predisposed to be pro-Israeli which they called The Frame of Reference. In a nutshell, the frame of reference is powerful and once established in the human brain it is very hard to extract. Westerners have been highly affected by Bible and the Holocaust, which predates the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and because of that an entrenched frame of mind have been well established.

Beside this important point the authors gave careful analysis to all American presidents since FDR with regard to this conflict.


Well Done, amazing analysis.

Although the history of America's "special relationship" with Israel is by no means a unexplored topic for authors, Kathleen Christison's "Perceptions of Palestine: Their influence on U.S. Middle East Policy" breaks new ground by its sheer scope of analysis, tracing 130 years of formulation of American perceptions of the Middle East, and their ultimate manifestation in U.S. government policy.

"In the Middle East," writes Christison at the beginning of her book, "terminology shapes reality; it becomes a way of seeing reality, and, finally, it is reality."

This single line, perhaps better than any other, encapsulates the political landscape mapped by Christison's book, a well-referenced 293-page investigation of the sources of the US mindset that has shaped Middle East policies through twelve key presidencies from Wilson to Clinton.

"Perceptions on Palestine" analyses the state of knowledge of the president and key policymakers in each administration and the preconceptions with which they entered office, by examining - where available - their writings and the writings of those who most closely influenced them; by exploring coexistent popular attitudes towards the Middle East in the media, films, and literature; and by looking at how each administration was influenced by the prevailing conventional wisdom.

I would unhesitatingly recommend this book as a standard text for anyone wishing to understand the reason for the prolonged nature of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Kathleen Christison does a good job of explaining, and showing, how Israel-centered the United States' foreign policy has been ever since 1948 (and pro-Zionist during the decades leading up to Israel's formation.)

Despite this strength, she seems to almost intentionally ignore anything that might undermine her position. Her explanations of why Arafat, the PLO, and other Arab leaders have rejected various peace proposals over the decades are informative - but her explanation of why the United States or Israel has behaved in certain ways or made certain decision are simply chalked up to pro-Israel/pro-Zionist outlooks.

There is also very little discussion of the decades of terrorist attacks perpetrated by Palestinians, and how such attacks have influenced the course of any and all potential peace talks.

Given the way the information in this book is presented, it appears as if Christison believes that anyone who is not singly pro-Palestinian/pro-Arab in their views regarding the conflict in the Middle East is failing to be unbiased. Even those presidents like Jimmy Carter, who was far more open to Arab leaders than most other US presidents, is criticized for not be pro-Arab enough.

In the end, this book offers a good insight into how much of our foreign and domestic policy is influenced by Israel and pro-Israel lobbying, and how difficult it is for an elected official to break free of these constraints. But if you are looking for an objective discussion of American foreign policy and how it relates to the Middle East, you are advised to look elsewhere.