4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A key to understanding and studying the century old conflict, July 8, 2007
This review is from: The Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Routledge Historical Atlases) (Paperback)
Prolific historian Martin Gilbert, who has compiled an
Atlas of the Holocaust
, and an
The Routledge Atlas of Jewish History (Routledge Historical Atlases), compiled this richly informative Atlas of the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's roots.
TA Bricknell is the cartographer of this digest.
The first map is of the Jews of the Land of Israel, before the Arab conquest, the map detailing the history of the Land from 1000 BC to 636 AD.
'For more than one thousand, six hundred years', the author points out 'the Jews formed the main settled population of Palestine. Although often conquered- by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians and Romans- they remained , until the Roman conquest, the predominant people of the land, with long periods of complete independence.
During the six centuries that followed the Roman conquest, some Jews still remained in Palestine, mostly near Safed, Tiberius, Hebron and Jerusalem, the four "Holy Cities" of Judaism'.
In this map, areas of the earliest Jewish settlement (the 12 tribes of Israel), the Jewish kingdom at the time of Solomon (1000 BC), and the boundaries of the Hasmonean Jewish kingdom, from 165 to 63 BC.
The Atlas then go's on to chart the dispersal of the Jews, in two maps- from 100- 300 AD, and from 1000 to 1500 AD respectively.
Particularly interesting is a map, outlining the history of the Jews in the Holy Land, from 636 AD (When the land was conquered by Moslem Arabs) to 1880.
We learn that in 1099 AD, Jews took part in the defence of Jerusalem, against the crusaders, fighting alongside the Arabs. Several Rabbis from France and England settled in Jerusalem about this time. In 1191 the Jews were driven out of Ashkelon by the crusaders, and many moved to Jerusalem. During the next five centuries, Jerusalem was estblished as a centre of Jewish learning. By 1880 the Jews formed the majority of the population of Jerusalem.
After 1517, under the Ottoman Turks, the Jews of Europe continued to seek refuge in the Holy Land from Christian persecution and expulsion, despite frequent ill treatment by their Moslem rulers.
Gilbert outlines Jewish re-settlements in the Land of Israel from 1880.
Between 1880 and 1914 over sixty thousand Jews entered Palestine, mostly from Russia, Galicia, Romania and Poland, the victims of persecution, discrimination and pogroms.
In 1909, the first all Jewish town, since the Arab conquest, Tel Aviv, was built on the sandhills north of Jaffa.
The Jews purchased their land piecemeal, from European, Turkish and primarily Arab landlords, mostly at extremely high prices.
The Atlas displays the land pledged by the Blafour Declaration of 1917, for the Jewish National Home. This includes all of what is today the State of Israel, the so-called West Bank and Gaza, and Jordan.
In 1971, 78% of the Palestine Mandate was seperated by Britain, and given to Emir Abdullah. Named Transjordan, this territory was at once closed to Jewish settlement.
There has been an Arab State in 78% of 'Palestine' since 1921 (from 1948 to 1967 85% of 'Palestine').
Gilbert details, in a series of maps, the pogroms launched by Arabs against Jews in the Holy Land, in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936 to 1939, in which many Jewish men, women and children were brutally murdered.
He describes, briefly, some of the killings and massacres of Jews. He also outlines the Jewish flight from Nazi persecution in the 1930's and the Holocaust in the early 40's.
Between 1933 and 1945, 90 000 Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and genocide made their homes in the Holy Land.
Between 1948 and 1970 nearly 60 000 Jews reached Israel from Europe. The majority of these were victims of the Nazi terror, whose families and homes had been destroyed.
In 1945 there were more than 870 000 Jews living in the Arab world. Many of their communities dated back 2 500 years.
Throughout 1947 and 1948 persecution and pogroms were launched against Jews throughout the Middle East and North africa. 580 000 Jews were thus driven to seek refuge in the infant State of Israel. Arriving destitute in Israel, they were basorbed in the society and became an integral part of the State.
600 000 Arabs left Israel before and during the 1948 War of Independence, in which feldgling Israel was attacked by seven Arab armies, and vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Jews beat off the Arab agressors and survived.
Many Arabs left on the instructions of their leaders, who promised them that they would soon be able to return to Israel once the Jewish State had been destoryed and the Jews anihilated.
But over 160 000 Arabs either remained in Israel, or returned to Israel in 1949.
What had taken place was a population exchange.
The Atlas describes the continual Arab terror attacks into Israel during the 1950's, 60's and 70's, in which hundreds of Jewish men, women and children were murdered.
It also teaches us about the Sinai War of 1956 and the 1967 Six Day War.
In 1967 Arab terrorist attacks into Israel increased, Arab armies from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia massed on Israel's borders and Arab leaders swore to totally destroy Israel and anihilate her people.
Quoted here are President Nasser of Egypt who thundred that 'our basic aim will be the total destruction of Israel, and President Araf of Iraq who decalred that 'Our goal is clear- to wipe Israel off the map'.
And some misguided or evil people claim that Israel was the agressor!
After the Egyptians blockaded the Straights of Tiran, Israel was forced to strike back.
The end of the war brough Israel a stunning victory and put Israel in charge of the Golan, the West Bank , East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Sinai.
The Atlas also outlines the Yom Kippur War, when Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kuwait launched a cowardly surprise attack on Israel, on 6 October 1973, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Paticularly interesting is a map listing the 62 States which backed the anti-Semitic resolution equating Zionism with racism, of 10 November 1975, as well as the 35 countries that opposed the anti-Jewish resolution.
The copy of the Atlas that I have is the 1981 edition, and therefore ends with the land which Israel was to hand to Egypt, as part of the Camp David agreement of 1978, and the balance of power in 1981.
The Atlas dispassionately provides the facts.
Anyone who says it is biased, simpy does not want the truth, but want to see history rewritten to suit their own prejudices and ideological biases. I highly recommend this Atlas as a key to understanding and studying the century old conflict.
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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible Resource About the Arab-Israeli Conflict, April 29, 2003
The Arab-Israeli conflict is a fiercely debated topic with numerous accusations constantly being thrown back and forth. For someone just beginning to study the Arab-Israeli conflict, it can be overwhelming. This book is a collection of maps drafted by a professional cartographer to show the real dimensions of treaties, ceasefires, boycotts, and other historical moments in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Would you like to know exactly which land the Oslo Agreements included?
Would you like to know which parts of the Middle East belonged to biblical Israel?
Would you like to know which parts of Britain's Palestine Mandate they forbid Jews to dwell or buy land on?
This resource can answer all those question and more graphically showing you the exact boundaries of, countries involved in, and other important aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I particularly found this resource helpful in disputing allegations by people that "such-and such a percentage" of the land was to be given up in a treaty such as the original U.N. plan for Palestine or under the Oslo Agreements. After showing my fellow debater the actual maps, the arguments were ended since I was in possession of hard fact thanks to this fine reference book.
Sir Martin Gilbert is a well-acclaimed British scholar, who has written numerous titles in the Historical Atlas series, extensively written about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and was also officially appointed to write the biography of Sir Winston Churchill.
I have reviewed the 1984 Fourth Edition, but several editions have since come out with updated information and additional maps to reflect more recent developments. I recommend getting the most recent edition available.
I highly recommend this outstanding resource for anyone studying the Arab-Israeli conflict, whether pro-Arab or pro-Israeli.
Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan
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