Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Paperback)

by Mitchell Geoffrey Bard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...a bright, well-designed, succinctly phrased book....This new, revised, enlarged, updated, and inexpensive edition...is filled with concise historical research..." -- International Jerusalem Post, October 26, 2001

"The best way to fight myths are with facts. All the facts you'll need are in this book." -- Near East Report, November 5, 2001

"The discussions are concise yet thoroughly canvassed." -- Canadian Jewish News, October 25, 2001

"The footnoted book contains more than 100 pages of historic documents and maps, making it more useful than ever...." -- Washington Jewish Week, November 22, 2001

Product Description
For years people have been asking for a resource that provides concise, factual information on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Myths and Facts fills this desperate need. This 464-page guide contains 26 chapters covering everything from Israel's roots to each of the wars to the "al-Aksa intifada." In addition to discussions of the historical issues and current events, the book has a collection of maps and key documents, such as the Oslo agreements and the peace treaties Israel signed with Israel and Jordan. The facts are footnoted and a wide variety of sources have been consulted, from Arabic, Hebrew and English newspapers to scholarly journals and books.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097129450X
• ISBN-13: 978-0971294509
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #997,628 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

201 of 250 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete and current, December 10, 2001

By	Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This 461-page book is set up in 25 chapters that break the Arab-Israel conflict into bite-sized easily digestible pieces, loaded with facts.

...It runs right through the current low-grade war against Israel, which Yasser Arafat planned even as he and other top-level negotiators met with Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak at Camp David in July 2000.

The volume throughout makes statements that are almost universally regarded as fact, and then proceeds to rebut them with data and history. (...)

You may hear various complaints that is a one-sided pro-Israel account. It is unquestionably pro-Israel, but not one-sided. Take the 40-page chapter on refugees, one of the highlights of this superb volume. Its 80 footnotes run for almost three pages--and 25 Arab sources include nine original Arab newspaper articles, several Arab authors and studies by Bir Zeit University.

The refugee chapter begins with the myth that one million Palestinians were expelled form Israel in 1947 through 1949, and then counters that myth with evidence including the 1949 Armistice agreement and United Nations reports of the day. In fact, the Arab census of 1945 found 1.2 million Arabs in all of Palestine, but only 809,100 within the boundaries of what became Israel. A 1949 Israeli census found 160,000 Arabs inside Israel, which meant that no more than 650,000 Palestinian Arabs could have become refugees. But the United Nations Mediator on Palestine at that time put the figure at only 472,000. Much similar material fills this rich reference.

The volume's sourcing is impeccable; All those books sited that I own, I can report first hand, are irreproachable pieces of scholarship.

In addition to the chapters on everything from Jewish settlements, Jerusalem and human rights in the territories to the arms balance, U.S. Middle East policy, the peace process and Holocaust denial, you will find complete copies of many of the major documents that govern Israel and its relationship with Arab states and the PLO entity. There is also a superb two-page list for further reading, and a full index.

Altogether, this is one of the better references on the Arab-Israel conflict to emerge in recent years. It is dispassionate, accurate, complete and current. Alyssa A. Lappen

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting History , June 15, 2005

By	Greenstone "TL Farley" (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Paperback)

"Israel's Roots, The Arab-Israeli Wars, The United Nations, U.S. Middle East Policy and The Peace Process," are just a few of the aspects listed on the back cover of this volume of ingenious presentation that delves into hundreds of articles and facts overshadowed by the myths in Israel's Davidic Stand against the doomed neo-Goliath of modern times.

Delineating the details that destroy hundreds of political, historical and religious fables concocted, some centuries old, applied to this conflict of the past six decades, 'Myths and Facts' serves the reader a refreshing diet of documented journalism that spares none including the famous. This revelatory tour of the groundless lies cast at Israel's door, and that country's forthright continuance down the road of arbitration miles beyond reason satisfies all challenges of integrity that can be mustered.

What frames this work as riveting history is simply a compendium of continually updated material available online through the Jewish Virtual Library. These facts sharpen in their credence as the struggle to capture peace continues elusively beyond the pale.

Helpful documents made available in the Appendices include treaties, memoranda and even declarations by palestinian groups such as Hamas. Unfettered by media shackles, this effort gives rise to hope in the most forlorn. Truth shall indeed out.

And Lord Acton's words inscribed in Mitchell Bard's preface, "Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history," echo yet louder with Bard's inscription date, September 2001.

In truth's interest,

TL Farley,
author,
When Now Becomes Too Late,
Distant Reaches

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{ Prophecy : The Rapture in Brief }


Distant Reaches { Print Edition }

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58 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Israel Book, May 10, 2002

By	Morris "mcohen1981" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Dont buy this book thinking you're getting a balanced perspective. This book tells the pro-Israel side of the story, but it does so very well. The research is meticulous and accurate, the facts overwhelming. It is not propagandish, and not hateful, rather very factual. You will be hard pressed to find a book this good representing the Arab perspective, namely one that is not hateful or filled with propaganda.

Maybe you strongly support or strongly condemn Israel, or maybe you know nothing about the Middle East, but either way if you want to know why supporters of Israel feel so strongly about what they fight for, read this book. There is so much negative PR surrounding Israel in the media, and this book will put it in perspective, and let you know why the region has fallen into its current state of affairs.

Bottom line: Even though it's not balanced, and doesnt try to be, it's still incredibly enlightening.