The Wound of Dispossession: Telling the Palestinian Story [Paperback]

Kathleen Christison (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Here, Christison brilliantly tests readers' prejudices and preconceptions regarding Palestinians, including Palestinian Americans, and their attitudes toward Israel. She shatters the common assumptions that Palestinians harbor an intrinsic hatred of Jews, that Palestinians want exclusive ownership of the land in the Middle East, that Palestinians are all alike, or even that Palestinians don't want to be Israelis. She brings to the front the rarely heard voices of intellectuals, businesspeople, and Palestinian Americans, who are largely underrepresented in the Palestinian conversation concerning Israel. Christison, a former CIA political analyst and author of Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy, successfully shows that Palestinians are not all of one kind. She doesn't claim to provide an objective, scientific, or even representative voice but simply one that must be heard. Written in simple terminology for a wide audience, this book makes a great addition to public and academic libraries alike. Ethan Pullman, Univ. of Pittsburgh Lib.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sunlit Hills Press; 1 edition (July 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097125480X
• ISBN-13: 978-0971254800
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,677,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars illuminating! January 14, 2003

By mary

Format:Paperback

I imagine that most Americans, asked for a modifying noun for "Palestinian", would immediately answer, "terrorist". We wouldn't necessarily think, Palestinian housewife, Palestinian poet or publisher, Palestinian professor, Palestinian student, etc. And certainly I hadn't been aware of the Palestinian-American community before I read this book. Ms Christison interviews over a hundred Palestinian Americans of varying ages and backgrounds, and, as I read, I grew more and more impressed, both by the strength of family and community the interviewees displayed, and by their thoughtful, nuanced attitudes towards Palestine and Israel. Please read this book! It is quite literally an eye opener. <P...

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Let freedom ring? October 30, 2003

By Miguel

Format:Paperback

The book discusses the Palestitian problem from a Palestinian point of view. Even discounting some of it as too anti-Israeli, there's no doubt that the Zionist movement and later Israel dispossessed the Palestinians of their land. Israel continues a policy of denying Palestitians basic freedoms. We go to war to bring freedom to the Iraqis, yet we support Israeli policies that retrict the freedom of the Palestinians. Is there no oil in the West Bank perhaps?

6 of 55 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Unhelpful propaganda August 14, 2004

By Jill Malter

Format:Paperback

Christison is annoyed by those who think that Arab demands to acquire Israeli land are a swindle, based upon artificial claims of a specific Arab subnationalism that can be satisfied only by Jewish land. She argues, in effect, that people have a right to invent their own bogus histories and demand whatever they please. But she goes too far when she dismisses those who disagree with her as engaging in dangerous mythology "at their own peril."

Christison has argued for years that the key to peace is for Israel to negotiate with Arafat. Well, Israel tried her recommendation. It didn't work. There is a connection between Christison's poor logic and her unreliable conclusions.