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War Without End: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Struggle for a Promised Land

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Journalist Anton La Guardia spent most of the 1990s in Israel as a reporter, much like Thomas Friedman spent most of the 1980s in the Middle East before writing his masterpiece "From Beruit to Jerusalem." There are important similarities and differences between the two books. Whereas Friedman's book examined the broader perspective of Middle East politics, "War Without End" is concerned exclusively with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Addtionally, while Firedman's book used history as a backdrop for a telling of his own experiences, La Guardia's book concentrates on historical writing punctuated only occasionally by his first person accounts.

That said, La Guardia has produced an excellent one volume history of the conflict. He sets the stage by explianing the origins of Zionism and of the European anti-Semetism that caused it to gain force. He then gives an overview the history of the Ottoman and British rule over Palestine, the 1948 UN Mandate and Israeli War for Independence, and the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflicts. After this, the rest of the book is devoted to the many conflicts between the Israelis and the Palenstinians as well as the internal conflicts between various factions within Israel and of the ineptitude of the PLO leadership. La Guardia gives a balanced account, and is critical of the excesses and mistakes committed by both parties.

One comes away from the book with a clearer understanding of recent conflict. Though chronologically disjointed, the narrative covers events all the way up until early 2002. The odd structuring of the book is most likely due to the numerous rewrites La Guardia admits in the preface to doing as events continued to unfold. His most valuable service is that, like with Friedman's book, he cuts through the ideological and religious issues to give readers a relatively clear picture of just what lies behind the world's most intractable conflict.

Overall, a well written and readable book that works a tad better as a work of history than as a work of journalism.

Outstanding book. Does a great job of combining biblical lore, modern history (last 100 years), and recent tragic events.

Why do the Arabs and Jews feel entitled to the land? Who is the aggressor? Who is the victim? Who is being stubborn? How can the conflict get more divided over time, with no benefit to either side? Each side is guilty and innocent. No simple answers are given, only context. Not much optimism, just the facts.

The book does jump around, but not in haphazard way. The chapters are groups of stories, with a common thread. If you want to read one book to understand the conflict in Israel/Palestine, buy this one!

A combination of history and journalism, La Guardia's useful and readable book covers the formation of Israel, its recently immigrated Jewish populations, and the exiled or (to risk a loaded word) subjugated, mostly Islamic, Arab natives. While the book sketches the historical events of the last two millennia that led the world to the current impasse and describes the rise of Zionism and its role in the creation of the state, the bulk of its pages focuses on events since 1948.

Discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become so heated that it is surely impossible to write a book that would satisfy even a plurality of readers, much less most of them. La Guardia is not impartial: on the whole, his sympathies tend to lie with the plight of the Palestinians (and part of this bias may well be unavoidable, considering the disadvantaged David vs. well-armed Goliath nature of the conflict). Yet he also understands the motives, emotions, and events that supported both Zionism and the formation of a Jewish state early in the first half of the twentieth century.

His blunt criticisms are equally harsh, directed at the international blindness that seemingly pretended that Palestine was an empty territory before and especially after World War 2, the incendiary Israeli policy of permitting settlements amidst Palestinian territory, the anti-Semitism tainting the Palestinian cause, the intractable religious fanaticism that infects both sides. Furthermore, he is scathing in his criticism of both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. For example, he excoriates Arafat's cynical manipulations, his administration of "a fiefdom in his own image," and his "laissez-faire attitude" to Palestinian violence. Similarly, he disparages Sharon for his role in the Phalangist massacre of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Although extremists of either stripe will undoubtedly disagree, La Guardia's biases inform rather than contaminate his reporting.

The journalistic aspects of the book yield its one major shortcoming. Instead of presenting the history of Palestine/Israel in some linear fashion, his chapters divide his materials, very loosely, into a potpourri of overlapping topics: religious background, the early immigrations and kibbutzim, a history of twentieth century events, the shadow of the Holocaust and the creation of the Palestinian diaspora (provocatively titled "Victims of Victims"), the assorted native and immigrant Jewish communities, and recent political events. La Guardia mixes interviews, historical narration, and flashbacks; since he occasionally refers to people and events before he's introduced them, the result may well be confusing to those who don't already have a general historical background.

Written by a foreign observer with an impressive understanding of the Middle East, "War without End" is, for the most part, factually reliable--and the opinionated presentation of those facts will enlighten rather than prejudice. The reader closes the book, however, with a sinking pessimism reinforced by the book's title: that this morass really has no solution that we can expect to see in our lifetimes.

At the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, we have chosen to use this book as one of 5 "essential" readings for our core course this fall for all first year students. This is an important treatise on the state of affairs in Israel today. It is an in-depth "read", posing as many questions for critical thought as it answers. The historical content in LaGuardia's book is rich, which is probably the most valuable element. No one can fully understand the problems of the Middle East without covering the past...... we're not talking about 1967 here, or even 1882, when the Russian Jews began to settle in Palestine. One needs to go back all the way to Abraham and Moses. And as daunting as that sounds, LaGuardia does a commendable job in doing so, constructing viable arguments for the "WHYS" of this crisis of cultures in an objective, balanced manner. This is the logical next read after Thomas Friedman's fine books on the Midde East.

This book is a very easy read of an incredibly complex situation. The author is even-handed in assigning responsibility and gives detailed but easy to grasp explanations of this long-standing dispute. My only criticism, and it's not a significant one, is that the author bounces through historical events in a seemingly haphazard way - almost a stream of consiousness. But overall, this book has made watching the news coverage of this issue much more interesting and compelling. If you want to know what's going on with the Israeli/Palestinian situation and why, this is the book for you.

This is the third booki read on the situation between Israel and Palestine and so far is the best book yet.Mr La Guardia is an excellent historian with great knowledge of the situation in the Middle East.The way he tells the story is captivating and clear.One of the things i like the most was that he explains every detail of the conflict.He explains and describes every group involved, every city or place and the importance of every conflict.For example, he explains names like Hizbollah,Hamas,Mossad and a lot others that you hear a lot in the news.He also explains both sides of the conflict with accuracy using interviews and a lot of historical sources which gives you a very good understanding of the conflict.This is the book for complete understanding of the situation between Israel and Palestine.Fantastic work!!

Probably one of the most balanced treatments of the mess in the Middle East yet written. Mr LaGuardia,a journalist, has attempted to present both sides in a fair and even-handed manner. I suspect that this book will not be appreciated by the pro-Israeli lobby because it expresses sympathy for the plight of the refugee Palestinians and points a disturbing finger at the Israeli government for its repressive and discriminatory policies. A book worth reading which does not pay slavish homage to the Israeli "miracle" but examines the dark underside of the treatment of the Palestinians and their quest for dignity and freedom from repression.

In general, a very good read by a well-informed and articulate writer. Maybe the best book on the subject since "From Beirut to Jerusalem." And the author is very good in exploring the inner minds of a lot of his subjects, his review of history is more informative than Friedman's was. However, I think that in spite of his honest attempts to write a balanced account, the author does not always succeed. His sympathy for the Palestinian cause, conscious or subconscious, resides in many of his pages. For example, it is interesting that almost all inconsistencies of Israeli policy over the last several decades are carefully reviewed and enumerated, but no similar critique is leveled at Arafat (with the exception only single reference to him as being unreliable). In discussing some of the reasons that led to the collapse of the Oslo process, the author omits what could possibly be the biggest one of all. He described the scene where Arafat rejected Barak's offer because it would have led to his funeral. What the author fails to mention is that Arafat never made the tough political decision Rabin had made to tell his people that they would have to reach a compromise with Israel. Instead from 1994 on the told them that one day they will have Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, and the rest. He was an irresponsible leader who promised something he could never deliver, who raised expectations of his people to a point where they could never be satisfied with any proposal that an Israeli politician could put forth and win a referendum on. Arafat's position in front of the Palestinians in 1994-2000 effectively precluded any possibility of a compromise final settlement. Yet in this entire work the author does not mention this once. Neither does he mention Arafat's famous doubletalk: one thing in English, another in Arabic.

In describing various Israeli inequities towards the Moslem holy places, the author manages to complete omit the fact that in 1948-1967 no Jew was allowed to approach his holy places at all.

An interesting example is provided by the author's description of the aftermath of the massacre of praying Palestinians by Dr. Goldstein -- a despicable crime and a truly low point for the settler movement. The author mentions that after Goldstein was overcome by the Palestinians, they began clashing with Israeli soldiers even though Goldstein was a lone shooter. The author appears very upset about the fact that the soldiers "for some reason... made a provocative appearance" at the hospital and then put the town on curfew even though it was the Jew who committed the crime in this case. But are curfews not usually imposed on a rioting city? Are soldiers not typically deployed to protect a hospital in a city beset with violence? The curfew had nothing to do with the shooting, but it had everything to do with the Palestinian riots that started immediately afterwards. The better question to ask is why "for some reason" the Palestinians "made a provocative appearance" on the streets and attacked the Israeli soldiers and settlers, who had nothing to do with the morning shooting.

The author does not miss a chance to call Israeli explanations "excuses;" its leaders are "corpulent" (Sharon) or former "terrorists" (Shamir), yet such labels are attached to Arafat. Reading the author's account of Camp David 2000, one might believe that it was Barak, not Arafat, who was responsible for the fiasco. Barak was too tough and confrontational, apparently, in spite of putting forth a stunningly generous offer (the best offer Israel could ever give), but Arafat merely was "suspicious." But I digress... The book is good, read it, but look for the author's opinions encroaching on history here and there; caution is warranted!

Anton LaGuardia's War Without End is an interesting book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Written by an experienced and highly talented journalist, La Guardia provides us with more than just an overview of the conflict. Here, he attempts to "describe the nature of Israel and Palestine, the symbolism they represent, the mirror histories of their people, and the extraordinary power that this tiny country exerts across the globe," which he does quite successfully. However, his other attempt to "paint a cultural portrait of the Israelis and Palestinians" is a bit disappointing, as most of the attention is centered around the Israelis and not so much the Palestinians. Whereas we learn much about Israeli culture, religion, politics, and diversity, we don't get the same amount of detail about the Palestinians, which perhaps explains why the author's American Publishers wanted to name the book "The Israelis."

Nonetheless, what's important here is the fact that La Guardia did his best to be fair to both sides. However, I must admit that his criticism towards the Israelis seems rather harsh and at times unnecessary. For example, La Guardia tells us about a time when he took a flight to Israel, where the passenger who sat next to him - a priest - complained to him that "all the terrible things that the Germans did to (the Jews), they are doing it to the Arabs" without elaborating on what he meant by that. With no context, the priest's statement comes out very misleading. After all, when one thinks of what the Germans did to the Jews, the first thing that comes to mind is genocide - a systematic state sponsored genocide where the primary objective was to murder each and every Jew; man, woman, and child. Yet the Jews have never done or sought to do such things to the Arabs. A little clarification regarding the priest's statement would have been nice.

A few chapters later, we find the author describing the Israelis as being "often brusque, haughty and... rude" and claims they have a "habit of pushing and shoving." He even goes as far as to criticize Israelis for their lack of exquisite cuisine! On a more political level, he criticizes the Israeli government for deporting over 400 Hamas and Islamic Jihad "activists" to Lebanon in 1992, where they were refused entry by the Lebanese authorities, and thus left stranded in a tent camp between the borders of Israel and Lebanon. According to Guardia, this shows the "callousness of Israel's actions." Callousness? Sure, if the deportees were innocent civilians. But they weren't, they were active supporters of legitimate terrorist organizations. Calling Israel's actions callous in this particular case just doesn't sound right when you consider the circumstances.

As for the Arabs, they seem to get slightly better treatment than the Israelis, as the author refrains from using any stereotypes, insults, or vague generalizations. However, this does not mean that they are not subject to criticism. They are, but on a different level. For example, the author criticizes the Palestinians for their corrupt leadership, stubbornness, use of violence, anti-Semitism, and brutal internal conflicts. For example, the author writes: "The Palestinian security forces operated with even fewer legal niceties than the Israelis. Civilian judges were routinely ignored, security courts condemned people to death with little semblance of due process. Torture was common. In the first four years of self-rule, more Palestinians died in Palestinian prisons than in Israeli ones." Much of the Arab world is also blasted for its failure to negotiate peace with Israel, as well as for their maltreatment of Palestinians, which the author admits is worse than the Israelis'.

That is not to say that this book's primary objective is to criticize everyone involved. The criticism, actually, is far and few. However, you can easily sense the author's frustrations in this book. Fortunately, though, La Guardia avoids choosing sides and does not persuade the reader to do so. Instead, his focus is to inform the reader, above anything else. And inform the reader he does. This book contains a lot of interesting facts, but perhaps it's better suited for those who are already familiar with the conflict, as I wouldn't exactly call this book introductory. Still, notwithstanding the few overgeneralizations and ambiguities on some issues here and there, this book is well worth reading.

I can only say that this book was one of the best books I have ever read on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Deliciously detailed and compassionately written, this book achieves its purpose: Explain the middle east crisis to those of us who don't understand it. This book enlightened me and showed me many of the 'whys'. Of course, Israel's conflict is a spiritual as well as political battle, and secular news reporters will never understand nor acknowledge this aspect of the crisis. We are not given much food for thought in the religious arena but we are given much in the geo-political/social arena. An excellent book to be sure for anyone interested in the land of milk and honey.