The Gun and the Olive Branch: The Roots of Violence in the Middle East (Nation Books) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THIS IS THE THIRD EDITION of a book that was first published, in the United States and Britain, in 1977, on the eve of that..." (more)
Key Phrases: metropolitan sponsor, popular liberation war, dominant orthodoxy, Middle East, West Bank, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is more about the gun than the olive branch, perhaps because the latter is a stunted foliage in the Middle East. For almost a hundred years Arab nationalists and Zionists have struggled over the same piece of territory, Palestine. David Hirst, Middle East correspondent for the Manchester Guardian, records the highlights of this dispute, about which he does not attempt to be neutral: in coming down on the side of the Arabs, he redresses the balance in the literature which is generally recognized as pro-Zionist. For Hirst, the Zionist program in Palestine, the establishment of Israel, and its subsequent expansion constitute the roots of violence between Arabs and Jews. He redresses his own editorial imbalance by fairly and accurately reporting violent episodes - from Arab massacres of Jews at Jaffa in 1921 and Hebron in 1929, to Arab terrorism in Munich, Qiryat Shmona, and Ma'alot in the early 1970s. As unsparingly, he scrutinizes Jewish massacres of Arabs and Jewish terrorism in the 1940s, as well as the state terrorism of Israel against Arabs inside and outside its expanded borders. Predictably, such violence is romanticized in both camps as heroic and necessary, either for Arab liberation or for Jewish security. By describing its effects on innocent victims, Hirst strips off its political mask and exposes its human horror and grotesqueness. While he fails to appreciate the complex causes involved (and ignores other Middle-East bloodshed altogether), he has nevertheless brought together in a short, brisk, responsible narrative the major acts of Arab-Jewish violence since the 1880s. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

More than a decade before Israel's New Historians revolutionized the study of Israeli history, English journalist David Hirst wrote The Gun and the Olive Branch, a classic, myth-breaking general history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hirst, former Middle East correspondent of the Guardian, traces the origins of the terrible conflict back to the 1880s to show how Arab violence, although often cruel and fanatical, is a response to the challenge of repeated aggression. The Gun and the Olive Branch is an absorbing, potentially controversial, history of the Middle Eastern conflict that is indispensable to anyone with an interest in world politics and by partisans of both sides. This classic and controversial account of the origins of the Middle East conflict returns to print updated with a lengthy introduction that reflects on the course of recent Middle Eastern history-especially the abortive Israeli-Palestinian peace process and 9/11.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books; 3rd edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560254831
• ISBN-13: 978-1560254836
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,136 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest, July 8, 2006

By	Joey (Deep South, USA) - See all my reviews

It's hard to find a good book on this subject in English that's written by someone other than an Israeli, or a supporter of Israel. This book is not anti-semitic, this book is anti-propaganda. Almost every reference which shows the Israelis in a bad light is a direct quotation from an Israeli leader. This book is heavy on facts, Hirst has many reference points, he does not make things up out of thin air. If you are looking for a book that tells you how the Palestinians are such horrible "terrorists", this is not that book. He is light on his criticisms of the Arabs, who have done their share of wrong. That's not what this book is about, though. This book is about the heart of the problem in Palestine, native people being removed from their land. It also focuses on how we in the west have been deceived for decades about the problem. In short, you need this book.

60 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, January 13, 2004

By A Customer

I've only read the first edition, which I found in a used bookstore many years ago--I may eventually read this latest version.

Hirst is obviously on the Palestinian "side", but then I don't know how any honest person could look at the facts and not feel that a great injustice was done to them. I wouldn't read the Gun and the Olive Branch (or anyway, not the first edition) for a complete account of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and there are various other books one should read, such as Tom Segev's "One Palestine Complete", which gives an unemotional and balanced account from various perspectives--Arab, Zionist, binationalist, British. But Hirst's book is a useful antidote to the silly romanticized view of Israel's history that many people receive in the US, which is similar to the whitewashed version of early American history that used to be taught, where the settlers were the good guys and the Indians nothing but vicious primitive savages and only one side committed atrocities. People who prefer that kind of mythical history will hate Hirst's book. (And probably Segev's as well.)

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most complete History of Palestine to date, August 30, 2005

By	LD Lewis "Journalist & Author" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

I cover the Middle East and this book continues to be my most valuable source for understanding the dynamics of the region, the real history and the issues. If you only read one book on the History of Israel and Palestine, this is the one. A British Journalist, he doesn't have an axe to grind with either the Arabs or the Israelis which is probably why both don't care for him. He tells the truth about both, unvarnished. Engaging, Hirst understands the dynamics and does his homework. The new section in the revised edition takes you up through 9/11 and the war on terror. It fills in the blanks and makes sense of the insanity. I personally have bought ten copies of this book and I give it out to people who want to know. It is that good.